Future, Imperfect
by beginningtogo
Summary: What if 8x16 never happened? Stefan lives and picks up the pieces of his tattered life, Caroline gets the existance she truly deserves, Bonnie decides not to leave Mystic Falls and Damon actually earns his "better man" title. This is a Steroline story with eventual Bamon.
1. Prologue

**This fic is an alternative take on 8x16. The wedding takes place and the cute reception stuff, but Vicky and Kelly Donovan don't appear, nor does explosion occur. It's predominantly Steroline, but there will be Bamon (eventually!). Warning – most of the characters are going to be dragged as I am bitter and angry about the awful endings inflicted on Bonnie, Stefan and Caroline. So I'm going to try, in my own poor way, to right some of the wrongs of 8x16.**

 **Enjoy and please R &R**

She glanced down at Stefan, curled up on his side, snoring gently. There was a softness to Stefan when he was asleep, his brow smooth and unfurrowed. She wasn't surprised to see him still asleep after the day and night they had had. The night in particular had been intense. Stefan, newly human, was consumed with a hunger, with a need that only she could satiate despite the two healing wounds in his torso and his painful right hand. Of course, they had needed to adjust to the new status quo, of him being human, of them being married. At times, Caroline's desire to rip into his warm neck had been strong. Fortunately, she had the control needed, Stefan's patient teaching inadvertently saving his life. They had a lot to talk about, but at that moment, Stefan needed sleep and she needed coffee and a blood bag in that order.

Bonnie had taken to running in the woods on the Salvatore estate. Some found them creepy, but, to her, the densely-packed trees and soft mossy floor were calming to her jagged nerves. Close to nature, her magic fizzed and crackled just beneath her skin. The return of her powers was the one tiny silver lining of the dark cloud that was Stefan murdering Enzo. It confused her because she felt more alive and more dead than she had ever felt in her short life. In addition, deep down in the pit of her stomach, there was a small knot, one she was steadfastly ignoring because if she thought about it too hard...Her phone bleeped, the text message instantly changing the direction of her run.

Hearing movement of the non-carnal variety coming from the love birds' room, Damon had got himself down to the kitchen and was busily making pancakes as a surprise for the happy couple. Of course, there was an ulterior motive, when hadn't there been with him? Only Bonnie knew his secret, the witch had been relentless in pursuit of the truth the previous evening. She was too damn clever sometimes, smelling a rat almost as soon as the ceremony was over. In the cold light of day, his courage was starting to fail so he sent her an SOS text, hoping she would come and back him up when the inevitable shit hit the fan.

Stefan surfaced from his slumber, his hand reaching out to find Caroline. His disorientated panic when he found she wasn't there, was placated by the heavy sensation of his wedding band, the memories of the previous day flooding back to him. He smiled, he couldn't believe just how lucky he was that Caroline was now his wife. Sure, the rest of his life sucked and Katherine was still waiting in wings, ready to unleash literal hell on Mystic Falls, but this moment, in the still of the early morning rested and refreshed, he was beyond content.

Not that it lasted. Even without his vampire hearing, Stefan could hear Caroline berating Damon in the kitchen. Scrubbing his hand over his face, he jumped out of bed ready to face the music. Peace, after all, was overrated.


	2. Marry in haste

**Thanks for the words of encouragement. Hopefully this chapter will explain what the hell happened!**

"What on earth possessed you, Damon? You came up with this whole wedding plan based on a complete lie. Getting married is a serious thing, you know?"

"You were engaged. I didn't want you to do something dumb again." He nonchalantly sipped his coffee, one of his trademark smirks plastered across his face.

Stefan was trying not to get angry, but his brother was shredding his every last nerve. "Something dumb like turning off my humanity to save two innocent children? Something that maybe, just maybe my ever-loving brother might have had something to do with?"

The smile on his lips died and Damon's eyes narrowed. "I never forced you to do that."

"You never do, do you? Never to blame, are you? Well this one, this one is on you. Caroline and I are married because you wanted to lure Katherine out of hell. Only Katherine isn't in hell, is she? Killing Cade and banishing Kai that was all we needed to do."

"Stefan, you're human and for the last five years, you and Caroline have been dancing around each other. The time is never right, there's always something in your way. I just wanted you to be happy." He paused and looked at his brother. "And I get it. I've been a terrible brother to you and I'm sorry."

That stopped Stefan in his tracks, Damon rarely apologised and never meant it. The contrition in his voice disarmed him.

"Caroline is your happiness, she always was. I've never treated her well either." Stefan scoffed. "Yet somehow she forgave me because she's better than both of us..."

"You won't get any arguments from me on that score, but why did you think tricking us into getting married was the right move?"

"Look, while the ceremony was unbelievably poignant, thanks to yours truly." Damon smirked. "It was hardly legal, I mean you don't have a valid birth certificate and Caroline is technically dead. If you really wanted to, you could forget it ever happened." His change of tack seemed to work.

"I could never do that! Why would I want to? But maybe Caroline would have liked time to organise the wedding of her dreams, invite the people she really wanted there."

"No disrespect, Stefan, but aside from Elena who couldn't attend if Bonnie did, who would she have wanted there? Her parents are dead, everyone else we have met in the last 8 years has died. Alaric, the ex-fiancé? Kai? He killed her kids' mother. Klaus? Well…"

"Damon." The warning in Stefan's voice was clear. "Just shut up."

"All I wanted was for you to be happy, after all you've been through." He reached into one of the kitchen drawers and slid an envelope towards Stefan. "I got you this as a wedding present. I hope you'll put this to good use, but no pressure..."

Bonnie sat on Stefan and Caroline's bed trying to console her friend.

"I just got married under false pretences, my whole wedding was a scam!"

When Bonnie had heard about Damon's dumbass plan, fortunately after the actual ceremony had taken place, she had wanted to stake him on Caroline's behalf. It hadn't taken her long to see that there might be some benefits. "I wouldn't put it quite like that. In fact, as Mystic Falls wedding goes, no one died, no one got put into a magical coma and I'm pretty sure you didn't pregnant this time around! It was a beautiful day, everything was perfect. Even though I hate your choice of groom, objectively I could see how much he loves you and how you being his wife makes him happy."

Caroline smiled a sad smile thinking of Stefan. He was still a mess, slowly adjusting to being human, but despite all that he loved her, she knew that, his way of showing it wasn't always the greatest. "It was so beautiful, I'm not sure I would have done anything differently. Thanks for being there, Bonnie, despite everything." Caroline pulled her friend into a tight hug, tears falling.

Stefan watched the girls hugging, relieved that the two of had each other. He was beyond angry at his brother, but at the same time, being married to Caroline was all he wanted. He just hoped she felt the same. He coughed alerting Bonnie to his presence, Caroline had been aware of him standing at the threshold the whole time. Bonnie gently released her friend who looked up tearfully at her new husband. Even without his vamp speed, he was next to her in a flash, wrapping his arms around her. Her face burrowed into his shoulder. "Your brother has gone too far this time. Too far!" She murmured.

Stefan dropped a kiss on top of her head and glanced up at Bonnie. "Thanks." He mouthed at her.

"You got this?" She queried, her posture unmistakably stiff around him. He nodded. "Care, I'm going to go. Do you want me to give Damon an aneurysm on the way out?"

"Yes." She murmured. "Thanks Bon."

The newlyweds sat together on the edge their bed, holding each other quietly. Eventually, Stefan took the initiative and spoke. "The way I see it is we have two ways to deal with this. Firstly, we can ignore everything that happened yesterday, go back to being engaged, pretend it never happened."

"Is that what you want?" She whispered into his damp shoulder.

"No." He exclaimed, gently hooking his finger under her chin and lifting her face up. Their eyes met. "But it seems like you might want to." She looked like she was about to interrupt which only spurred him on to continue. "I want to go for option two which to accept what happened, to give being married a go and take advantage of this sweet, no-expense-spared honeymoon my idiot of a brother has booked for us as a wedding present-slash-apology." He pulled Damon's envelope out of the back pocket of his jeans and handed it to her.

Holding the envelope like it was riddled with cooties, Caroline was struggling with this new tit bit of information. "You want to stay married to me?"

"Of course, why wouldn't I? I meant every word of my vows. Since I've become human, my world has been this depressing fog of guilt and self-loathing, punctuated with life threatening injuries. The sight of you walking down that aisle was like sun breaking through the clouds. Yesterday was a dream come true and if whisking you away on honeymoon helps to prolong that dream, well who am I to argue with that?"

"Do you know where we're supposed to be going?" Her voice was resigned.

"I do, but would you not want it to be a surprise?" Stefan liked the idea of keeping that tradition, but wasn't sure her control freak nature could take it.

"Where your brother is involved? Hell, no. Urgh, it's Vegas isn't? Or Atlantic City?"

"Neither, it's somewhere I've never been before and it looks fun." He replied cryptically.

"I really hoping you haven't been to Hawaii." She brightened a little at that thought.

"Nope, not there either." He noticed her pout and gently rubbed her thumb over the back of her hand. She let out a tiny sigh. "Caroline, I know you don't trust Damon, but trust me, I think you'll enjoy it."

"Has Bonnie had any say in this?" Caroline, intrigued by the whole premise, was still sceptical.

"I don't know."

"Well, I'm going to ask her and then make the final decision, okay?"

Well that was a definite 'maybe', there was hope yet.


	3. Repent at leisure

**Thanks for your reviews/favourites. Enjoy!**

Reluctantly, after a long chat with Bonnie, Caroline agreed to the honeymoon, but only if Damon pushed it back a couple of weeks so she could get the twins settled back into their life in Mystic Falls. Damon had been his usual stubborn self, refusing to alter arrangements, but Stefan had talked him around using a little emotional blackmail.

"Are you sure you don't mind helping Ric with Lizzie and Josie? Don't you want to get away on your own travels?" The blonde vampire asked her witchy best friend for the hundredth time.

"Of course not." Truth be told Bonnie really didn't feel like going off around the world on her own. Her initial bravado after taking down Cade had faded and despite Stefan's presence, she found herself drawn to the Salvatore Mansion, comforted by the familiar feeling of its musty rooms, a hangover from her time in the prison world. She had even claimed her old room as her own, staying over some nights.

"I'm so grateful." Caroline gently wrapped her arm around her friend's shoulders, sensing she was hiding something. "I know you're not okay, Bonnie, but you can talk to me."

"Honestly, I just feel like sticking close to home for the moment. Plus, I've started to bond with my nieces. I like being cool Aunt Bonnie." She deflected expertly.

Caroline prided herself in being able to take a hint, even if she really didn't want to. "Do you think you'll teach them a little magic?" She hated to ask, feeling like she was already taking advantage of Bonnie's good nature. "As soon as I'm back, I'm going to find a nanny, preferably a witch version of Mary Poppins to look after them. Ric is still going on about this magic school, but I just want them to have as normal a childhood as possible." She looked to Bonnie, hoping for some reassurance.

Bonnie didn't know what to say. "Care, they're siphons. They need more guidance than a normal witch would. The Gemini coven seem like an oddity, their powers manifest very young."

"Urgh, I just don't want to think about it."

"Look, just enjoy your honeymoon. Aunt Bonnie's got it covered and Damon may be a complete asshole, but he's not one to stint on life's little luxuries."

"You mean he compelled us a load of upgrades." She scoffed. "You're still not going to tell me where we're going, are you? You're as bad as Stefan!" Her hand flew to her mouth as her husband's name fell out of it. She and Bonnie had studiously avoided discussing the younger Salvatore. "God, Bon, I'm sorry, I'm such a complete idiot."

Bonnie couldn't help the automatic feeling of hatred that flooded her whenever Stefan was mentioned. She knew that while Caroline had spent most of her time with the children, Stefan had been quietly avoiding her and sorting through his financial affairs to set up a trust fund to help his victims. Despite the fact that Matt seemed to hold a colossal grudge against him, the two of them had worked together compiling a list of Stefan's victims whose compulsions had been undone. Bonnie knew this after meeting up with Matt in the Mystic Grill. He had got drunk and revealed that many of Stefan's compulsion victims were likely to be Damon's misdemeanours and that the younger Salvatore had just been trying to limit the damage. Still that didn't seem to stop Matt hating on Stefan while giving his brother a free pass.

Bonnie gave Caroline a wan 'I forgive you, but please don't make me talk about it' smile, so her friend quickly skipped onto the twins' routines and why crust less sandwiches were a big no no.

It was the night before their honeymoon and Stefan was in bed reading by candle light while Caroline finished up in the bathroom. She stepped into the bedroom taking his breath away. Her golden hair fluffed loose around her shoulders, her long, shapely legs were barely covered by the tiniest of pyjama shorts and her silky-smooth skin glowed in the soft light. Putting his book away, he placed his hands on his lap and raked his eyes languidly over her body.

"Like what you see?" She teased, moving sensually onto the bed, crawling slowly towards him, stopping just out of his reach.

"Always." He all but growled, leaning forward and wrapping his arm around her waist. He pulled her onto his lap, planting a demanding kiss on her lips. She kissed him back with equal fervour, greedy tongues moving over one another. He pulled away smiling at her. "Before things get too heated, I was feeling a little guilty about not getting you a wedding day present, so I got you this." He lifted a flat rectangular box from under his pillow.

"You didn't have to. My wedding ring was more than enough and you somehow persuaded Bonnie to be a part of the day. That means more to me than anything."

"I know, but I still wanted to get you something." He looked down, suddenly a little nervous.

"Thank you." She smiled, opening up the present, an expensive-looking passport holder. She picked it up and ran her fingers over the pale lilac leather, smiling. "I love you Mr Salvatore."

He reached across taking the passport holder out of her hands and opening it up, turning to the last leaf of the brand-new passport inside. "And I love you Mrs Forbes hyphen Salvatore."

She glanced down and gasped at her new surname emblazoned officially across the page. "We never talked about that." She grinned, a giggle escaping as she cuffed him playfully on the shoulder.

"What? I know who I married." He replied, smiling back at her, his renewed confidence a far cry from the man of a few weeks ago.

"I'm not even going to ask how you sorted this out."

"Damon was involved, so yeah, I wouldn't." He replied simply, capturing her lips with his. A warm wind blew through their room and the candle flames flared as he gently lowered her to the bed.

Having landed in Miami for a stopover, Caroline was no more enlightened as to where they were headed. Sipping Champagne in the private lounge, she mused on how Bonnie had been right about Damon's love of luxury. Stefan had been nonplussed as she squealed at the opulence of the whole thing, absentmindedly squeezing her hand and smiling at her. She was glad to note that his smiles were starting to meet his eyes. In Mystic Falls, it was tough being public enemy number 1, but Stefan, being Stefan, bore it with his usual stoicism. His suicidal tendencies were less, helped by his time spent with the twins who adored their Uncle Stefan, nearly as much as their Aunt Bonnie. An attractive brunette stewardess discretely indicated that their flight was ready to board, ushering them directly to the first-class cabin as the last passengers to board. It soon became apparent where they were heading.

"Buenos Aires?" Caroline's knowledge of geography was poor, but even she knew the capital of Argentina. "Why?"

 _Sitting in the Lockwood Mansion downing bourbon like it was going out of fashion, Stefan had just dropped the bombshell that Caroline was pregnant with Alaric and Jo's twins. Horrified by the whole prospect, Damon was trying not to be an asshole. "How do you feel about this?" He asked gently._

 _"_ _Well, I've been on this earth for 160-some years, and I've seen the world at 30,000 feet. I've travelled to every continent, and learned how to cook—"_

 _"_ _Built a Porsche!" Damon butted in._

 _Stefan nodded and looked thoughtful. "I think my only regret would be not having a kid."_

 _Damon returned his brother's pensive look, having a child had never really been in his game plan. He had been 25 years old when he turned, an age where he should have had a wife and a family, his bachelorhood another rod for his father to beat him with. He was sure he had good reasons for avoiding the domestic stuff, but they were lost in the mists of time. He really didn't want to think about Vampire Barbie dropping sprogs, it made him shudder. Quickly he changed the subject to save his sanity. "You've been to Antarctica?"_

 _"Yeah, with Lexi. She wanted to see the penguins." Stefan sipped his bourbon._

 _God, what was it with his brother and annoying blonde vampires? "And are penguins tasty?"_

 _"Not really, they are oily and fishy and their feathers stick in your teeth. I was this close" Stefan indicated a half inch gap with his thumb and forefinger "to eating the boat crew."_

 _"Sounds like hell, brother."_

 _"Oh, trust me, it really was." He raised his eyebrows, his brow doing its trademark furrow. "We were supposed to travel around South America afterwards, but I had to high tail home to the deer and the squirrels so I didn't lose my mind. I'll go back some day." The brothers raised their glasses and toasted._

"Wow, that's random, but Damon remembered. I mean, it's kind of sweet if you think about it."

Stefan didn't say anything, she was right of course. This was one of Damon's silent apologies. Getting to experience this with Caroline could never make up for the fact that Lexi would never see the place, but he was hoping the new memories they made would help erase the hurt that still festered in his chest. Not for the first time, he pondered on why the hell he seemed to feel just as guilty of his own misdeeds as he had when he was a vampire. For Elena and Alaric, turning human had been like wiping the slate clean, why not for him? "I might try and get some rest, my human stamina sucks and we have a pretty packed itinerary." He reached for her hand, pulling her towards him with a deep sigh, his other hand sliding through her silken curls.

Caroline pressed her forehead to his, breathing in his scent. Touching her lips lightly to his, she marvelled at how much their lives had changed. She couldn't help, but hate what he had done. That didn't stop her loving every human inch of him. He slid back in his seat and was soon asleep, his hand still clasping hers. Caroline however wasn't ready to waste her first-class experience sleeping. She ordered some more champagne and delicious canapés and settled down to watch a film. After all Damon was paying.

 **AN: I kind of wanted to apologise because this story is primarily Steroline for the next few chapters. The Bamon will work its way in, but as much as I am not a Bonenzo fan, I just don't see Bonnie moving on that quickly. I want to get Bamon back to being friends first. In addition, I have played fast and loose with that bit of dialogue from 7x06, but I was always fascinated by Stefan going to Antarctica – it was kind of unbelievable. I always felt the whole "all Stefan's compulsions wore off and suddenly loads of victims come out of the woodwork" was weak af. Stefan couldn't really compel people on bunny blood so my head canon is that he wouldn't really use it unless necessary (see S6 where he's been paid nothing to work at that garage). Still because Stefan is Stefan, he will deal with it. I have been toying with this fic for a while and that 8x16 deleted scene was the final push I needed; just don't think too hard about how Stefan and Damon got that passport! If there are any "wrongs" from TVD you think need righting, please let me know and I'll try and weave it in.**

 **Thanks again for reading.**


	4. Last Tango in 'Paris'

"Mornin' Little Bird." Bonnie was back from her daily run and just like every other day, she was met by a sleepy Damon brandishing coffee and muesli. Sometimes if she was in the mood, he made her pancakes with blueberries and whipped cream as she completed the crossword puzzle. It was a peaceful time for them, the calm before the storm. The house was even quieter now Stefan and Caroline were on honeymoon. "You tutoring the twitches today?" he asked, his eyebrows twitching with amusement.

"Don't call them that, Damon."

"What? I'm just taking an interest in nieces' welfare."

Bonnie rolled her eyes, but wasn't hugely cross at Damon. She pretended to barely tolerate him, but he was her friend, no matter how much she tried to deny it. "They are doing great actually, I can't believe how much they have learnt."

"I can see you as a teacher, Bon. Just like your Grams. Mind you, I think you should stick with the young ones."

"Why?" She questioned, he seemed sincere, but with Damon you never quite knew.

"Adolescent boys - I'm not sure they would be able to concentrate with a teacher as attractive as you." His eyebrows did that ridiculous wiggle. Bonnie threw him a dirty look. "What? It's a compliment."

"Hardly." She scoffed. "Do you have to be so sleazy? I'm your friend and Elena's friend." She stabbed her spoon into her muesli bowl. 'And you were Enzo's friend too' she wanted to say, but she swallowed her words. She was working through her grief slowly, speaking frequently to Abby on the phone, her mother finally stepping up after all these years. Then there was Damon. He had been a surprise. One night, he had turned up unannounced at her house as she wept silently into her pillow. He had held her for hours until she passed out through exhaustion. Having kept watch over her all night from her rocking chair, Bonnie had slept better than she had done in ages. The whole thing should have been creepy, but somehow it wasn't. The following morning, he quietly asked her to move in full time to the Salvatore Mansion so he could keep a better eye on her and still be close to his beloved bourbon stash. Bonnie had laughed genuinely for the first time in what felt like forever, packing her bags without a further thought.

The move had been easy with Stefan gone, but she had no idea how long she could last here. She needed a long-term plan for her life now Enzo was gone. Maybe Damon was right, she should train as a teacher. Lizzie and Josie were good kids and she enjoyed being around them. Despite sharing no DNA with Caroline, they were definitely her daughters - bright and bubbly, stubborn and tenacious, smart and bossy especially Lizzie. Under Bonnie's instruction, their magic had become better controlled, well their urge to siphon anyway. They were pre-schoolers after all and impulse control was never going to be their strong suit. Still, she felt optimistic for their future, that they wouldn't turn out to be psychopaths like their uncle Kai. "I think I might look into Grad School, you know, do a PhD."

"Excellent." He grinned. "Let me know when you decide to do the college tour; I'll come with. I do love a hot nerd."

"Don't be gross." She replied, smiling as he slid a stack of pancakes in front of her, a smiley vamp face adorning the top.

Spending an evening learning the Argentine tango from a pair of ancient, yet attractive vampires was not exactly Stefan's idea of a honeymoon activity. Truth be told, he had been horrified by the whole prospect. Had Damon gone bat shit crazy? He wasn't just an ordinary human, he was a former vampire with the cure running through his veins. He need not have worried, because apparently not all vampires missed their humanity despite not having daylight rings. He jealously eyed Caroline being guided around the dance floor, her partner's hand pressed against the bare skin exposed by her backless dress. Not concentrating caused him to stumble, his gauche ways far more noticeable now he didn't have vampire speed to cover his mistakes. "I'm sorry." He sighed, apologising to his partner for treading on her toes. "I guess I'm clumsy."

"Don't be hard on yourself, Stefan. I'm impressed, you're a quick study." She flipped her long dark hair over her shoulder, smiling seductively at him, her eyebrows quirked upwards reminding him of his brother - yikes!

Caroline was insanely irritated by this wonton hussy throwing herself at Stefan. Her partner was handsome, but the guy obviously batted for both sides the way his gaze switched between herself and her husband. She just wanted to be in Stefan's arms, tangoing to her heart's content. The dance was at once sexually charged and romantic, like their honeymoon so far. When Stefan had described Buenos Aires as the 'Paris of South America' she had pouted and whinged that she had never been to actual Paris. She had soon eaten her words as they strolled hand in hand through the cobbled streets of the barrios, taking in the sights and sounds, the architecture and the music. Her mind wandered to earlier that day.

 _"_ _You're taking me to a cemetery?"_

 _"_ _This is just any cemetery. It's the one where Eva Peron is buried. I thought you were Queen of the Musicals." Stefan teased and started to hum a show tune under his breath._

 _"_ _You know I could have nailed that part." She replied, grinning at his semi-passable imitation._

 _"_ _Of course, you could." His look told her he believed she could do just about anything. He took her hand as they sauntered between the impressive tombs of the Cementerio de la Recoleta._

 _"_ _Wow. This is kind of spectacular." Caroline broke the companionable silence._

 _"_ _Yeah it certainly beats Père Lachaise." Stefan quipped. He paused, his face quickly sobering. "It reminds me of the one in New Orleans."_

 _Caroline squeezed his hand, not sure exactly what he was feeling guilty about – the horrible crimes he had committed, the time he had spent on the run from Rayna, the bunnies he had murdered. She didn't want to spoil the bizarrely happy mood the cemetery had induced in them. "I wouldn't know." She teased. "I was trying to escape from a supernatural entity who was after Lizzie and Josie. I didn't have time for sightseeing!"_

 _"_ _I wonder what Klaus is up to these days?" He mused._

 _"_ _Who knows? And really who cares?" She replied, non plused._

 _"_ _You're going to live forever." He pressed. "And well I'm not. So maybe... In the future..."_

 _Caroline was horrified. "Hell, no." She glared at him. "Stefan." She turned to him taking his face in her hands and relaxing hers a little. "You are not going to die for a very long time and even when you do, Klaus will not be on my radar, I can guarantee that."_

 _Stefan looked relieved, not wanting to be a placeholder for the big, bad hybrid. Still he wasn't past teasing her. "His family are loaded. You could live like a Princess."_

 _"Prefer to avoid that gilded cage, thank you." She scoffed. "Anyway, I'm a Salvatore now and we aren't exactly on the breadline, are we?"_

 _"No and I need you to know that you're my first priority, you and the girls. Sure, my reparations are important, but I'll take care of you, now and forever. I might have to get a job though. Keep you in the manner to which you've become accustomed." He looked thoughtful._

Caroline smiled at the memory. Stefan considering his future was an important step in the right direction. As they had admired the ornate mausoleums, they had bantered back and forwards about Stefan's new career, their ideas getting more bizarre as the sun started to set. Their final choices - tree surgeon or panda cuddler - were settled on over a glass of Malbec and the finest steak the city had to offer. That night they made passionate love, holding each other for hours afterwards, never wanting to let go. Caroline sighed, her attention diverted back to the present as she attempted to concentrate on her steps.

"If you don't mind, I would like to dance with my wife now." Stefan's words broke through Caroline's thoughts. She noticed that he had stopped dancing, his partner's wrist in his hand and had that polite, yet disinterested look, plastered on his face. The look he gave her the time he had turned her down at the falls all those years ago.

"Good idea." She beamed back, disengaging herself and moving towards him.

"May I?" He asked, holding his hand out. She gave the smallest nod, never breaking his gaze. He took her hand and led her into the dance, pulling her into a close embrace, their chests crushed together. She felt his human warmth, his heart beat quickening, still so alien to her and she pressed her cheek to his as the dance demanded. He smiled as he giddily led her through the walking steps he had learnt, sometimes smooth, sometimes fumbling.

Dancing with Stefan had always given Caroline a secret thrill. He seemed so reluctant with Elena, yet even when they were just friends, he would single her out as a partner. His usually stiff posture would soften and for a few short minutes as they swayed together, she caught a glimpse of the antebellum boy whose only formal contact with girls had been through the medium of dance. On their wedding day, her favourite moments had been twirling around the dance floor, giggling at some stupid joke he had made and watching him dance an awkward yet adorable two-step with his new stepdaughters.  
Eyes locked on each other, they embraced the passion of the music, under the watchful gaze of their instructors. As soon as they realised their tutees were doing okay, the two vampires started their own dance. Not that Stefan or Caroline even noticed, wrapped up in their own world. "Having fun?" Stefan whispered.

"I am now." She purred back. He pulled her in even tighter, the intensity of their embrace only heightening the passionate mood of the sultry evening. The tune built to a crescendo and then, bang, the lights went out and the music screeched to a jarring halt. In the silence, the couples remained locked together still gently swaying to a tune of their own. Their lesson was at an end. Stefan and Caroline tumbled out into the warm night, his arm wrapped around her shoulders pulling her close as he pressed his lips to hers. Tomorrow, they would continue their journey, but for tonight Buenos Aires was their oyster and they planned to enjoy every nook and cranny.

"So, what have you done today? Tell me everything, I want to live vicariously through you, Care." Bonnie grinned, daily facetiming had been one of her friend's stipulations when she agreed to the trip. Once she had reassured her that the twins were okay and enjoying their magic lessons, the witch wanted to find out all the gossip.

"You have to go to Argentina. I have to admit I was super sceptical about this honeymoon, but it's been amazing. Horseback riding at sunrise, a day in the spa and then dinner accompanied by the best local wine Mendoza has to offer. I'm in heaven."

"Better than the glaciers?"

"Oh my god, yes. I mean they were pretty and everything, but it was cold." Bonnie giggled at the idea of the vampire feeling chilly. "And that ice climbing trip, I'm still not sure I forgive Damon for that one."

"Well, it sounds amazing, the whole thing sounds amazing."

"It is. Mind you, the electricity seems to be a bit glitchy. The light-blubs in our room keep blowing and my favourite curling iron exploded the other day. I thought it would be okay, I bought the right adaptors, I checked like a million times. Obviously, Stefan should stick to styling his own hair!"

His name for once didn't make Bonnie flinch, disassociating annoyingly-perfect-hair-Stefan from murdery-ripper-Stefan. Still, she wasn't going to think too hard about him. Changing the subject, she enquired about what was next on the itinerary and whether Damon might stump the cash to export some of that delicious wine home to Virginia.

"Bonnie, thank god you're okay. You didn't come home last night." Damon had been frantic with concern as her phone had gone straight to voicemail over and over again. In the back of the vampire's mind, he had been worried she had done something stupid and sacrificial, purely because it was Tuesday and she was Bonnie God Damn Bennett, the only person who had a bigger martyr complex than his idiot of a brother. Damon was cut off when Lizzie and Josie came barrelling into the Salvatore kitchen, shrieking at the top of their childish voices. "Ok rugrats, let's tone it down a notch. Bonnie?" He questioned, a sinking feeling in his stomach.

"It's Ric." Bonnie replied, looking exhausted. "He's missing."

 **Duh, duh, durrrhhh! Don't worry Bamon will not be dragging Steroline back from their honeymoon. I really struggle with writing Damon so please let me know if he's too much of an arsehole/OOC/just pain dumb. In this chapter, Caroline channels her inner Candice, I wait to see what TO S5 will bring us. The signs don't look good, but I still have faith in CK and her monumental hatred of a certain ship. On that note, I am incredibly aware of the sheer awfulness of the film that I named this chapter after and apologise for that, it just fits. Sorry again.**


	5. Don't tell mom the babysitter's dead

After settling the kids in the snug watching a Disney film, Damon stuck on the coffee maker, even though he really wanted something stronger. "Okay, start from the beginning and don't miss out any details."

"I picked up the girls from nursery, took them back to Caroline's house, we practiced some magic and I made dinner. When Ric didn't come home by 7, I called him and it went straight to voicemail. I figured he was stuck in traffic, so I put them to bed, then I fell asleep on the sofa. Next thing I know it's morning and he still isn't home."

"Why didn't you call earlier?" If Damon was honest with himself, he was just glad Bonnie wasn't hurt or kidnapped or worse, but he's wasn't letting her off the hook.

"Phone's dead." She whipped the offending article out of her bag. "Speaking of which..." She went to grab Damon's phone off the counter, but he was there first, wrapping his long fingers softly but firmly around her wrist. The gesture made her skin tingle, she tore her hand away, feeling confused. "Damon, I need to call Caroline." She used her patient voice, trying to keep the slight tremble out of it.

"No, you don't."

"Yes, I do." She argued back.

"No, you don't. Look, he's probably on a bender somewhere. He'll sober up and come home soon."

"Caroline still needs to know!" She tried to grab his phone again. This time she got lucky.

"And she will, Bonster, but not while she's on her honeymoon." Damon stepped closer crowding her personal space and the tension in the air ramped up. He made a jokey 'hand over the goods' gesture, hoping it would ease the weirdness. "I can't compel you, but I will tie you up and throw you in the cellar if I have to." He quipped.

"That's a little kinky, don't you think?" The words were out of her mouth before she thought too hard about it, her tone much more flirty than she intended.

"Bonnie, are you blushing?" Damon quirked an annoying eyebrow at her.

"No, moron. I'm black." She lapsed into bickering as a defence mechanism. "Now stop talking about your pervy little fantasies and let me call Caroline." She started trying to guess his pin code.

"Woah, stop!" You're going to lock my damn phone." Against his better judgement, he used his strength and speed to get it back from her. She pouted, but conceded. "We will tell her I promise, but let's see if we can find him first. I'll go see what Sheriff Matt can do. Give me 48 hours. Please Bon." He batted his eyes at her.

She knew he was being manipulative and Damony, but in many ways, she knew he was right. Ric drunk far too much and wasn't particularly interesting from a supernatural, or any, point of view really. Surely, the twins would be of greater interest to a Machiavellian evil genius. "Okay, but what are we going to do with Josie and Lizzie?"

"What all working parents do - a combination of nursery, nannies and begged favours from their nearest and dearest. Come on, Bon-Bon. How hard can parenting be, you don't need a licence to do it! I'll drop off the brats at childcare while you head to the Armoury and squeeze Dorian for info." Damon had no idea about children, but he was hoping he could fake it til he made it. "Munchkins." He called through to the TV room. "Do you want pancakes for breakfast?"

Two eager faces appeared. "Can you make them heart shaped?" Lizzie asked cheekily.

Damon threw open the kitchen drawers and happily located some heart shaped cookie cutters Stefan must have bought at some point, his brother was a total sap. "I can cut them into shapes if that's what you want." Their delighted squealing told him he was nailing this parenting lark. He shot Bonnie a 'told you so' grin.

Bonnie sighed, Caroline's warnings about fussed over food echoing through her brain.

Stefan awoke feeling more rested and more relaxed than he had in ages. Stepping out onto the private terrace of their gigantic luxury suite, he caught a glimpse of the spectacular Iguazu Falls. Sure, the sound of waterfalls still made him a little twitched after his summer spent locked in that safe. Maybe Damon had planned this an extreme form of desensitisation therapy? He took a couple of deep calming breaths and rang down for room service breakfast, complete with a pint of B+. Stefan had no idea how his brother had organised a regular supply of vacuum packed blood as they moved around, but he was eternally grateful that he had.

A knock at the door signalled that the food was here. Stefan went to gently wake Caroline by kissing her forehead. He loved the feeling of her perfect skin on his lips. Her eyes fluttered open and he smiled as she orientated herself. He would never get used to this feeling, that the most amazing woman in the world was his wife. It made him feel 10 feet tall. "Hey sleepy head, breakfast time."

"Food?" She murmured slightly disappointed that he wasn't about give her what she really hungered for.

"I'm a mere human, I need sustenance!" He teased, but none the less captured her lips in a kiss, realising there was no rush. He climbed back onto bed hovering over her sheet-wrapped, naked form as he deepened the kiss enjoying the feeling of their tongues brushing against one another.

Caroline was instantly awake, her arms snaking around his neck and waist pulling him closer. For a human, Stefan was surprisingly strong so she didn't have to worry about hurting him. The warmth of body pressed against her was a surprising turn on, one she hadn't expected. His lips moved to her neck nibbling her skin, before trailing teasingly downwards towards her breasts. The feathery sensation of his fiery tongue sent tingling sensations to her core, feeling new and exciting even though they had taken full advantage of every suite during their honeymoon. "You still feeling hungry?" She shot him a wicked grin.

A ruffled head popped up and his green eyes met hers. "I'm starving." He replied seriously, although his face couldn't help but crinkle in mirth. "And now if you don't mind, I'm going to get back to my breakfast." With that he dove under the sheet causing Caroline to scream first with surprise, then with lust and finally with blessed release. All in all, it was a great start to the morning.

Damon was exhausted, he had had just over an hour with the twins and already he wanted to drag Ric back from whatever bar he was hiding out in and kick him in the ass. Damon knew Ric was having a hard time letting go of Vampire Barbie and for once, he could see why, those kids were devil children. He had faffed around with stupid heart shaped pancakes, only for them to reject his creations and ask for cereal instead with a lack of gratitude that rivalled Prison-World-Bonnie's.

He realised in hindsight he has given in far too easily when they then demanded they wear their Elsa and Anna costumes to nursery complete with plastic princess slippers. No amount of logical argument could deter them. Damon had received a few judgemental looks as the girls tumbled out of Stefan's Maserati (he wasn't ruining the Camaro's interior with their car seats despite his brother's warning not to touch his precious car on pain of death). A telling off from the nursery supervisor about their ludicrous choice of footwear nearly had him losing his shit. He ran a frustrated hand through his hair, only to realise he probably hadn't brushed it this morning and it looked like a bird's nest.

Pulling up at the Mystic Falls police station always reminded Damon of Liz and how, at times like this, he really missed her. Matt wasn't a bad Sheriff for someone who shot his own fiancé, but his attitude really wound Damon up. Every family in the town had been affected by the supernatural in one way or another, but the way Matt went on about it, you would think he was the only one. That and being weirdly okay that he had murdered not just Vickie, but Tyler too, while Stefan remained persona non-grata. Having destroyed the Maxwell Bell, Matt had slipped back into irrelevance, unless you were filing a missing person's report.

"Hi Damon." Matt looked warily at him. "What's up?"

"Ric's gone missing." He replied simply.

The blond Sheriff looked instantly worried. "What did you do?" He hissed. "I thought we would finally get a bit peace and quiet with Stefan out of town."

Damon rolled his eyes. "My brother is a representative of Team Human now, so cut him a bit of slack. Ric disappearing is more than likely a case of too much Jack and Jim, but I told Bonnie, I would see what you could do and I'm not going to let her down." Like you did in the past, his conscious niggled him.

Matt sighed, realising that being pissy wasn't helping. "How long has he been gone? Have you tried to phone him? Have you checked the Armory?"

"Sometime yesterday morning, yes of course and I have my best girl on it… speaking of." He pulled out his phone. "Witchy. What's shakin'?"

Bonnie let the nickname slide because she was worried. "Ric popped in briefly yesterday morning. He told Dorian he was off on a field trip and then left."

"Yeah, field trip to the nearest bar."

"OK you might have a point, but not long after a couple turned up and starting asking questions about the St John legacy."

"The what?"

"I'm as clueless as you are."

"Put the intern on." He ordered.

Bonnie put her phone on speaker and mouthed 'I'm sorry' at Dorian. Dorian didn't trust vampires, but having shot Stefan, he was scared of what his brother might do to him. He described how the man and woman had turned up barely an hour later. They had skulked around the periphery of the compound captured on the surveillance cameras. Finally knocking on the door, Dorian had played dumb to their questions about the legacy.

"What did they look like?" Damon asked.

"Average height, although the guy was on the shorter side. Both had blond hair, the girl's was really curly."

"Did they give you a supernatural vibe?"

Dorian turned to Bonnie and shrugged. "He doesn't know, Damon." She said, tetchily.

"You would have thought he might have some idea, the amount of time he's spent hanging around the Armory."

"There's no need to be so damn rude." Bonnie snapped. She gave Dorian an apologetic look. "Would you mind letting me see the camera footage?"

"It's kind of grainy, but yeah sure." Dorian was glad to get away from the tension between these two supernatural beings.

Picking up her phone, Bonnie rubbed her temple. "So, did that description remind you of someone we once knew?"

"Our second favourite magical wonder twins? Yeah a little."

"But Liv and Luke are dead."

"Come on, Bon-Bon. You know dead doesn't mean dead dead. How many times has someone been resurrected? It's why my Katherine lie was so damn plausible."

She could imagine that smug look on his face. "OK Damon, I'll check out the camera footage and then I'm going to see if I there is anything here about this legacy."

"Why don't you put the postgrad onto it? Surely that's what he's into? Researching long forgotten irrelevant stuff?"

"Firstly, Dorian isn't some lackey you can order about. Secondly, it's clearly not irrelevant if people are poking around asking. Finally, I am not sure we can drag some poor unsuspecting guy into our supernatural mess."

"Okay, okay, I get it. You do your research and I'll get Matt to do his cop stuff, see where I could start looking for Ric. But who's going to pick up the twins?"

"You're closer." A smug look spread across her face, knowing he was cornered.

"Bon, please don't make me, I begging you." He whined.

"Parenting is a doddle, right? You'll be absolutely fine. Bye Damon." With a wicked grin, she cut him off and headed to Alaric's office to see what she could find.

Having already viewed the Falls from the lower circuit the day before, Caroline decided to head out on a quieter jungle trail that morning. While she was in the shower, Stefan snuck off to the hotel kitchen and got them to rustle up a champagne picnic lunch for the two of them. Surrounded by rainforest and sound of birds, the pair hiked along in comfortable silence, holding hands where the trail was wide enough for two. A rustle on the path ahead had Caroline stopping dead in her tracks. "What's that?" She squealed, hoping it wasn't a snake.

Stefan's human ears hadn't picked up the noise, but in the distance, he could make out a small armoured creature. "That's an armadillo. They are normally nocturnal so we are lucky to see one."

"You nerd." She sighed. Get a grip, she chastised herself, you're a vampire, a snake can't hurt you. Still the old human phobia was burnt into her psyche. She felt a pair of warm arms snake around her waist from behind, as Stefan wordlessly reassured her everything was okay.

"Don't worry." He murmured in her ear. "I won't let anything happen to you. Let's go meet the little critter." They advanced quietly, getting closer to the weird looking creature. They got within about six feet before it startled and disappeared into the undergrowth, not before Stefan had excitedly snapped a couple of pictures on his phone. "Wow, that was amazing." Caroline shot him a 'really?' look. "Except for you." He replied smoothly. "Come let's keep going."

Continuing along the trail, it opened out into a pool with a less spectacular waterfall than the main event. Caroline quickly stripped off her shorts and t shirt revealing a red bikini which left little to the imagination and dived in. Stefan was more reticent; while the larger falls had been okay, this was more like back home. A memory flashed before his eyes, of murdering an innocent girl who sent her final hours craving blood. With it came the guilt, despite Caroline's help with the Fell Family. Panic starting rising within him. Within seconds, she was by his side, comforting him, her skin a few degrees cooler due to her nature and the cold water. "I don't deserve you. I'm a terrible person."

"Oh, Stefan. None of us are blameless. We have all done horrible things. You are the one person, I know, who has tried to make good their mistakes. Granted, you didn't have a lot of choice and you still have a way to go…" She trailed off, rubbing his back gently.

His breathing started to ease, comforted by her presence. "It just hits me sometimes, the guilt, and it overwhelms me. You told me I was strong enough to fight, but I don't feel it." He tried to pull away, but she used her strength to keep him locked in her arms. "Wow, this self-pity is pretty fucking pathetic."

"You are strong enough. You fought your vampire nature for a century and a half. Listen, I would lay bets that you haven't killed anywhere near as many people as Damon. Even your latest ripper spree only amounted to the same Damon and Enzo."

"But I killed Enzo."

"Who may have loved Bonnie, but who was let's face it, a murderous vampire who killed without remorse. Remember Monique? Remember Tom? Remember him manipulating and nearly killing Matt to get to Sarah?"

"Is that why you forgave Damon? Because we are all awful people?"

Caroline's eyes darkened. "No, I forgave Damon because it was hurting me expecting an apology." She started to look away, but Stefan caught her, his eyes pleading to make him understand. "That doesn't mean I have forgotten and I sure as hell haven't forgotten the way Elena treated me when they first got together. I choose the high road because I can."

Stefan blinked, processing her words. "I can never ever apologise enough for my brother's actions and for not saving you sooner. I was physically weak, but that is no excuse."

"You did save me though and I remembered that when I turned. It's why I trusted you in that bathroom. So, thank you." She replied simply. "Now let me save you." They stayed a moment in each other's arms.

"I love you, Caroline."

"I love you too, Stefan. Now, shall we go for a dip?"

"That sounds like an excellent idea." He swept his wife up his arms and ran into the chilly waters as she shrieked at him to put her down.


	6. From Rio to Eternity

The next morning Caroline woke to the demanding chirp of her phone. Pulled unwillingly from her sleep, she surveyed the wreckage from their nocturnal exploits – a broken table lamp, the bed in total disarray, feathers everywhere from a pillow that had seemingly exploded. Stefan lay on his back, snoring gently, his usually perfect hair a sex tousled mess. Running her hand through her own hair and slipping on a vest top and panties, Caroline's ire was quieted a little when she saw it was Bonnie video calling. "It's so good to see you! How is everyone?"

"Hi Care. I've got a couple of little people who want to say hello."

"Mommy." They cried out in unison.

"Hello babies. I miss you so much. Have you been good for daddy and Aunt Bonnie?"

"Aunt Bonnie is cool. She lets us do magic and she's not grumpy like Uncle Damon!"

"Ummm. How is Uncle Damon grumpy?" Caroline's eyes narrowed at the mention of her least favourite Salvatore.

"He shouts a lot." Josie complained.

"He drove Uncle Stefan's car. Sshhh, it's a secret." Lizzie said seriously, pressing a tiny finger to her lips.

"Damon borrowed my car?" A naked and suddenly awake Stefan appeared in camera shot, his hands the only thing covering his modesty.

"Stefan, please." Caroline hissed. "Young eyes!" She turned her attention back to her phone. "What the hell is going on?"

Bonnie was momentarily distracted by what looked like feathers floating behind Caroline. Jeez, the stress of parenting was really getting to her. "Erm, I think I'll let Damon explain." She put the phone down and shouted for the vampire.

"Damon? What? It's 6am." Caroline muttered. "I've got a bad feeling about this."

Stefan, now fully dressed and looking sombre, slid up behind her planting a warm kiss on her shoulder. "Me too. Uncle Damon is going to get his ass kicked if he did use my car."

"So, you are telling me there are no flights to anywhere in the US at all today? None?" Caroline was getting hysterical and other passengers were starting to notice. Today would have to be the day that a glitch in the computer system screwed up their last-minute travel plans. Damon had chartered them a helicopter flight from Iguazu to Rio with an onwards connecting charter flight via Miami. The whole terminal was over-run with frazzled passengers going nowhere fast.

"Caroline." Stefan stepped in, smiling winningly at the check-in lady. "If Ana says there are no flights, there are no flights. Please could you make sure we are on earliest one home." He pleaded with her. "We need to get back to our daughters."

Ana looked relieved that someone at least wasn't having a complete go at her. "There is a flight early tomorrow morning. Hopefully things will be fixed by then. I'll see that you're on it." She gave Stefan a dazzling smile which he returned gratefully.

Caroline's blood pressure started to improve as Stefan steered her away from the desk. Anger gave way to anxiety about Lizzie and Josie. "I'm just worried." She admitted, dropping her eyes as if embarrassed to admit a little weakness.

"I know." He replied, pulling her in for a hug and kissing her forehead. "So am I, but there is absolutely nothing we can do about it. Let's enjoy our day in Rio. What shall we do?"

"Don't worry, I have a guide book." She gave him a reluctant smile, never say Caroline was unprepared.

After a quick check in at the airport's tourist information desk, they managed to secure a hotel room for the night and also a trip up the Corcovado mountain. They got there early enough to beat the crowds and enjoy the view of the city. Next on their itinerary was a trip to the Botanical Gardens where Caroline picked up some special seeds for Bonnie to grow magical plants. Stefan was dubious at whether they would get them through customs, but he kept his mouth shut, just happy she wasn't worrying too much. After a late lunch, they checked into their Ipanema hotel ready to hit the beach.

When Caroline pulled off her white shirt and jeans shorts, Stefan nearly had a heart attack. She was wearing the smallest pale pink bikini he had ever seen, in fact it was so close to her skin tone that she almost looked naked. He wasn't sure he was going to survive an afternoon on the beach with her looking like that. Perfectly dressed for a day in air conditioned airports and planes, he suddenly felt hot and self-conscious in his black t shirt and jeans. He couldn't even take off his baseball cap because he hadn't had time to style his hair that morning. The newly appeared, human stubble that he had so carefully cultivated had overnight turned into a beard which itched like crazy in the heat.

From under her lashes, Caroline could see Stefan's mounting discomfort. She had always dreamed of a honeymoon lounging by a pool, reading trashy romance novels and then acting out the saucier moments later with her brand-new husband. Yet she was really glad that Damon had organised this trip for them, she honestly wouldn't change a thing. Besides, she had a surprise for Stefan. "While you were faffing about with your hair, I got you a present." She said, handing him a bag from the hotel gift shop.

Curious, Stefan opened the bag. His expression turned to horror as he pulled out a pair of Hawaiian style swim shorts in a shocking pink with big white flowers. "Thanks." He gulped. Still, it was better than boiling to death or a pair of budgie smugglers and no one knew him here. Sliding off his outer wear and putting a towel around his waist, he awkwardly manoeuvred himself into the hideous shorts.

Caroline was beside herself laughing seeing Stefan finally wear something colourful. He looked amazing though, the scars on his torso beautifully healed for ones so recent received. She snapped a quick picture for blackmail purposes which had him lunging playfully at her to grab her phone. The playfight became a make out session and it took everything in their willpower to stop before it got too X-rated.

Laying side by side on their towels, Caroline closed her eyes. "Fantastic as this honeymoon has been, I can't wait to get back home to Mystic Falls and see Josie and Lizzie." She quickly glanced over. "You called them 'our daughters' earlier. That was cute."

"Sorry, I know Ric's their dad. I shouldn't have overstepped. Uncle Stefan suits me just fine."

"It's okay. I don't mind." She sighed, shifting to get herself comfortable in the warm golden sand.

Stefan propped himself up on his elbows. "Are you happy Caroline?" He asked.

"Of course, why wouldn't I be?"

"I don't know, I was just thinking. There was a moment last night where for the first time, in a long time, I felt 100% happy, no guilt, no shame, like everything had fallen into place and I experienced this weird surge of energy. Sorry, I'm being odd."

"Not at all. Remember when the heretics took over Mystic Falls, everything was going to shit and I told you made me happy? That hasn't changed, it never did. Not when you skipped town after Damon died, not when you were marked and had to flee. Admittedly your ripper side was never my favourite, but underneath you were still you, no matter how much you tried not to be."

"How can you be so certain all the time?"

"I'm an optimist. You said it yourself. Let the happiness in, Stefan. Give yourself a break."

"Okay." He replied. "I'll try." He leant over and pressed a gentle kiss on her lips.

"I can't wait to see Mommy and Uncle Stefan." Lizzie whined.

"When's Daddy coming home?" Josie asked quietly.

Bonnie was on twin duty this evening as Damon was following up a lead on Ric from Matt. Dorian, who despite Bonnie's best efforts to keep him the hell out of this, was busy searching the Armory for clues. "I don't know." She replied truthfully. The girls were subdued, the excitement of sleepovers having faded on the third night without either of their parents. They were perceptive kids who knew there was something wrong and hadn't argued when Bonnie made macaroni cheese for the second night in a row. Now snuggled up in their pyjamas, they were allowed to stay up until Caroline and Stefan made it home which shouldn't be long as their plane had landed on US soil earlier that afternoon. Bonnie was looking forward to seeing Caroline. She didn't even hate the idea of touching base with Stefan knowing he would do pretty much anything to find Ric if only to help his wife and the twins.

The door of the Salvatore Mansion flew open and in burst the aforementioned blonde vampire, followed by a bedraggled, human Stefan carrying their luggage. The girls' faces burst into grins as they wrapped themselves in their mother's arms. Bonnie noticed Caroline swipe a tear from her eye as she hugged them tightly. Stefan hovered in the background until the girls' attention turned to him and they went in for a quick cuddle before once again, mobbing their mom. He nodded a quick hello to Bonnie before hurrying upstairs with the bags.

Not wanting to hang around like a spare part, Bonnie ascended the stairs planning to head to her room and text Damon to let him know of the happy couple's return. Instead, she was drawn in the opposite direction towards Stefan's room where she caught him busily sorting through the holiday laundry. She stood at the doorway, unsure what to do. "Hi Stefan."

"Bonnie, thank you so much for everything you've done. I guess I'm now even more in your debt." He joked weakly. He looked exhausted, 12 hours of travel would do that to anyone, but he also seemed different - less downbeat, emotionally stronger with a faint aura of... no that was wrong, it couldn't be.

"I don't mind." Bonnie pushed the thought down. "They're good kids."

"But still, thank you." He reiterated. "How have they been, really?"

It was the first time they had been alone in ages, normally Caroline or Damon would act as a buffer, stopping them from actually talking directly to one another. Bonnie had no idea why she was putting herself through this, but it was like she couldn't help herself. "I won't lie, Stefan. It's been rough on the girls and on your brother. I'm sorry we should have told you earlier."

"I get why you didn't. I mean there's a good chance Ric would have turned up sooner or later. The computer issues at the airport didn't help." He sighed. "I guess I just wanted Caroline to have a honeymoon uninterrupted by supernatural bullshit, after the whole wedding fiasco."

"So did I." Bonnie truly meant that, no matter how she felt about Stefan.

He ran his hand through his hair. "So, what can I do to help with…?" He waved his hand somewhat aimlessly, unsure of how to describe their current predicterment.

"Nothing for the moment. Get some rest, we'll talk tomorrow." She went to leave and then turned uttering the words she never thought she would say. "I'm glad you're home, Stefan."

"So am I, Bonnie." He offered her a small smile.

The concrete floor was hard and cold under his head. Alaric tried to open his eyes, but one was completely swollen shut. He was missing a front tooth and his mouth tasted stale and metallic, reminding him of his brief time as a vampire. He pulled himself up, head pounding, sparks of light flashing in front of his eyes. He saw a heavy wooden door in front of him, dragged his bruised and broken body towards it and started banging it with his bloodied fists, screaming to anyone who would listen for help.

 **AN: Thanks for the reads and reviews, keep them coming. So the Steroline honeymoon comes to an end :( . The entire inspiration for this part of the fic came from Wescola in Rio. Those two truly are the captains of our ship (even if they did take Daniel Gillies with them). I have never been to Argentina or Brazil, but I'm really inspired to go after this. If there are any horrible glaring inaccuracies, please let me know. Yes, Bonnie's U-turn towards Stefan is kind of sudden. There is a reason for it which will be revealed in the next couple of chapters as will what the hell happened to Alaric. Sorry, no Bamon this chapter, more from those two coming up soon.**


	7. Interlude

Coming back from honeymoon was never going to be the greatest feeling in the world, but as Caroline rose at 5am, ready for work, she felt like complete shit despite the coffee Stefan always made for her. She had gone back to her job at the news station with Stefan playing nanny and looking after the girls. She figured that she might pick up some civilian chatter on what might be going on in the supernatural world. They had still not located Alaric, Bonnie's locator spells seemingly blocked. The research at the Armory was slow and messy. It was beyond frustrating. Despite her boss being more than agreeable about flexible hours and parental leave, her patience wore thin and she decided there and then to resign. It had served her well in the past, but broadcast journalism was no longer her thing.

* * *

After getting up to see Caroline off, Stefan never wanted to return to their cold, empty bed. Instead, he busied himself with the daily meal prep for the remaining inhabitants of the Salvatore Mansion. The coffee machine spluttered and gurgled for the second time that morning as he finished off the twin's breakfast. Upstairs they were getting dressed or so he hoped, giggling away like they didn't have a care in the world. Looking after the kids, ferrying them around, reading them stories, endless teddy bear picnics and horseback rides - he loved every moment and thrived in his role as step-dad. He harboured a secret, however, one that could potentially endanger both himself and the girls. Struggling to get things under control, there was no one he could turn to, no one he could ask. He needed access to information and the only person who could help was the only person he couldn't ask.

* * *

Bonnie was bright, intellectually far more able than either Elena or Caroline, but alas the US school system didn't really cater for the 1%, the people with special talents who could take an idea and run with it. Bonnie was about practical tasks, applying knowledge rather than regurgitating lists of facts. When it came to magic, she could happily trawl through grimoires for hours as the largely female witch population knew how to organise their shit. The Armory however had an archaic filing system that defied logic or reason. To add to her woes, Alaric had started to reorganise the collection and had made everything ten times worse. She despaired they would never discover anything of relevance. Dorian was a god send, but there was only one of him. Maybe she needed a new assistant?

* * *

Even as a child, Damon struggled to sit still, preferring the buzz of the lumber yard to the silence of the classroom. His tutor had despaired at his lack of application. Academic pursuits had never been a life goal for him; as soon as he could he escaped the classroom and set off on a life of adventure, much to Giuseppe's disgust. So being locked in the Armory and forced to read through dusty old documents was his idea of hell, well not literal hell, he had seen that and was keen to avoid it. He wanted to be out in the world tracking down Ric or the mysterious shady couple, but Matt's leads had run dry, so aside from hopping from bar to bar he had no idea where to look. He knew Bonnie would never go for that plan so he busied himself trying to find a clue, any clue to get himself out of this dump. If that meant cheating a little, so be it.

* * *

At least the chair, Alaric was currently tied to, was padded, even if his wrists and ankles were painfully rope chafed and his eye still throbbed. The rough hessian sack over his head was abruptly pulled from his head and he was momentarily blinded by bright light. He blinked desperately trying to focus, disorientated and confused. "Mr Saltzman." A deep, threatening voice boomed from somewhere in front of him. "What is your involvement with the Armory?"

* * *

 **AN: This fic started off with me wanting to write a Steroline honeymoon, then I had 1000 different ideas so decided to take it in a different direction and then got stalled. My muse is back and I'm keen to get going again with this story. I hope everyone enjoys the new updates. To the guest reviewer who talked about the breaks, trying to put breaks into FF is one of the most annoying and frustrating things ever. I thought I had it cracked, I was wrong. I have gone with their horizontal line thing which is overkill, but at least separates the character thoughts out.**


	8. Square peg, round hole

**I wrote this chapter, having completely forgotten about a particular piece of canon from S8, so there's a bit of deviation. Sorry, hope it's not too annoying.**

* * *

"Today," Caroline announced dramatically as she excited the bathroom. "Today is the first day of the rest of my eternity." A huge smile broke across her face.

"And here was I worrying that you quitting the station was all a terrible mistake!" Stefan smiled back as he towelled off his hair.

Caroline looked thoughtful. "Do you think we should give the girls the day off nursery? We could go to the park, feed the ducks."

Stefan had been hoping to catch Caroline alone as he had something important he needed to discuss with her; he had tried the night before, but somehow, she had persuaded him into an early night and well... "I don't know. Didn't we agree to carry on as normal? As normal as anything ever is around here."

"They're four years old. Surely a little break from routine won't hurt them? I mean it's not like we can do anything anyway."

"I know, we should be helping find Alaric, but…"

"What can we do? We have nothing to go on, until Bonnie and Damon come up with something." She sighed, a worried look tracing across her face. "Do you ever feel like we aren't working to our strengths?"

Stefan gave a 'what can you do?' shrug. He didn't have an answer, he was trying to help in whatever clandestine way he possibly could. He gently slipped his arms around her waist and pulled her close until their foreheads touched. Energy surged through his fingertips as he gently touched the golden strands of her hair; he had never felt so powerful and so helpless at the same. "Let's check with Matt again, maybe something new has come up overnight."

"Maybe." She replied, equally doubtfully.

* * *

Damon had spent a lot of time with Bonnie over the last few weeks. He had got used to having her to himself and although, he would never admit it, he enjoyed her company more than anyone else's. So now sat in the Armory, pouring over dusty books, he resented Dorian's presence particularly as the boy seemed to take any opportunity to flirt with her. Admittedly, his game was weak and when Bonnie gently rebuffed him, he backed off, but still the two of them had an easy friendship untainted by years of magical favours and his murderous brother.

He didn't see Bonnie ever getting past that and by extension, never fully trusting him again.

The irony that his brother's actions could reflect so badly on him.

Damon rose from his seat. "I'm going to get a drink. Do either of you want one?"

Both his companions shook their heads. Bonnie's curly hair fell away from her shoulders exposing her smooth, graceful neck. Damon squashed down the myriad of erotic thoughts that flooded his brain. Why was Bonnie suddenly having this effect on him? Maybe he needed some blood rather than a coffee.

Downing the fridge's last remaining blood bag as fast as possible, Damon mulled over his history with Bonnie. The prison world had been a turning point in their relationship, his premature return to the land of the living having thrown a spanner in the works. After spending that time with Bonnie, Elena's hold on him had waned whether he admitted it at the time or not. When Kai locked her away under the sleeping beauty curse, there had never been a choice, he was always going to save Bonnie because he realised he couldn't live without her. That had surprised him, the depth of feelings that he had for his best friend. Maybe his brother's annoying best friend, Lexi, had a point: maybe there were multiple 'ones' particularly for a vampire.

And therein, for Damon, lay the rub: it didn't matter how he felt, he was a vampire and Bonnie would never love a vampire, knowing how it would all end.

Only in a fit of Stockholm syndrome, Bonnie had fallen for Enzo, murderous, slippery, vampire Enzo. Damon had been jealous, that ugly emotion he seemed to be prone to, that emotion that had almost cost him his relationship with his brother. At first, he had dismissed his feelings as typical Damon, doomed to repeat the past, to fall head over heels for an unattainable woman. Only this time, it was more than that.

He shook his head and checked his phone hoping that Stefan had got back to him with the latest transcription he had sent him. They had agreed that none of the documents were to physically leave the Armory, not knowing exactly what they were and as Bonnie didn't want Stefan anywhere near her, it meant that he was effectively frozen out of the whole search. Only this stuff was his brother's forte, his meticulous, patient and downright boring, in Damon's eyes, personality was meant for this. Through the miracle of modern technology, Damon had cheated a little and his brother had produced something that made sense unlike his own efforts. Too bad it was just some tedious genealogy of the St. John family. Suddenly, the Armory felt stifling, he could use a little fresh air. Grabbing the lunch Stefan had made the two of them earlier, he sauntered back into the main room. "I think it's time for a break, Bon Bon."

She looked up, trying to scowl, but just looking like a hot, serious librarian instead. "I'm not hungry. We have too much to do." Her rebellious stomach gurgled.

Damon raised an eyebrow at that. "Come on, you know Barbie will stake me if you don't eat properly. Plus, the break will refresh those brain cells of yours."

Bonnie looked down at the passage she was about read for the fourth time and relented. "Dorian, do you want to join us?"

Even if the poor intern had wanted to join them, the 'over my undead body' look Damon threw at him would have put anyone off. "Erm, I was thinking of leaving a little early tonight. I have a date."

"Oh wow, " Bonnie replied, eyes lighting up at this nugget of gossip. "Who is she?"

Not wanting to get drawn into a long dull discussion about Dorian's love life, Damon butted in. "Leave the poor lad alone, I'm sure he doesn't want to tell us the sordid details. Come on, Bon-Bon, let's go." He slipped a hand under her elbow and manoeuvred her outside, to a shady spot, perfect for picnics.

"Damon, what is up with you? I was only trying to be friendly, make him feel like one of the gang. The guy's doing us a massive favour even being here."

"I don't want to hear the pre-date details, I want to hear about the actual action." He quipped, lamely.

"Could you be anymore gross?" Bonnie punched him on the arm.

"Yeah, well it's a sad day when Dorian has a better love life than me." He was about to make a glib joke about getting his brood on like Stefan, but for once, he kept his big mouth shut.

"You jealous?"

"Nah, I bet she's a 6, 7 at most. I'm all about the 10s."

Bonnie grinned "Don't set your sights too high!"

Damon smiled back a little sadly, the girl he liked was an 11 on a bad day, definitely out of his league. "Here." He passed her a sandwich, hoping to change the subject.

Biting into her lunch, Bonnie winced at the sour taste. "Why has this sandwich got so many pickles in it?" She started to pick the offending articles out, as her brain processed the situation, the realisation hitting just as Damon cut across her thoughts.

"Alright, Stefan made lunch. He always makes lunch… and dinner… and breakfast. He just pretends that he doesn't and lets me or Caroline take the credit so you don't end up living on pop tarts and cereal! The amazing coffee you're always swooning over. 100% Stefan. These home-made brownies, you love." He gestured at the container of yummy baked goods. "All Stefan."

"I'm never going to forgive him, Damon."

"Jeez, Bon, I know that. I don't think he expects you ever will, but my stupid, do-gooding, martyr of a brother isn't going to stop trying, like ever." He looked down, playing with his ring.

Bonnie stopped fiddling with her pickles and glanced over at him. He looked... well guilty, not like a kid caught stealing candy, upset they got caught, but profoundly guilty like it was eating away at his soul. "Damon?" She queried.

"What makes me so easy to forgive? There was a time when Stefan being the enfant terrible would have been the highlight of my day, but now..." He tailed off as she winced. "You should also know that I've been getting Stefan to help with the transcriptions. He always was the scholar out of the two of us."

"I know, Damon." Bonnie replied gently. "I'm not mad at you."

"Well, you should be." His voice was high, tight and slightly strangled. "I lied. End of." He shot her an angry, pissed off look. What the hell is wrong with you? He thought. Are you trying to pick a fight? Just pull her pigtails and be done with it.

Bonnie was confused as hell as to what was up with him, but her instinct told her to let this go for the moment. "Let's concentrate on Alaric for the moment. He needs our help."

Damon, grateful that Bonnie hadn't blown up in his face or gone down the overly placatory route, decided she was right. "Look, even with Stefan's help, we're not getting anywhere here."

"You're right. I just feel like we're looking for a needle in a haystack. This has to be something to do with Alaric's Armory involvement."

"Well, yeah, but... maybe we need to speak to the person that actually owns this place. It's probably that chick in the mental institute, Victoria?"

"Virginia. Like the state you were born in and spent half your existence terrorising. And it was a rehab centre."

"What addiction were you getting over? Booze? Pills? Devilishly handsome bffs?"

"I was undercover, but yeah, I did talk about you. Therapy made me realise what a terrible friend you actually are." After Damon's earlier outburst, this wasn't the right time. The look of acknowledgment on his face surprised her somewhat.

"Yeah, yeah, you're right. Maybe my brother's not the only one who needs to actually earn your forgiveness. I think we need to go and speak to Virginia, but I know that place could remind you of things, of people... I don't want you upset."

Bonnie was touched at his consideration. Normally, she was dragged head long into a scheme without any thought. "She's opened up to me before so maybe... I will be fine, you know I'm tough."

"The most resilient person I know! Doesn't mean you have to be."

"Thanks, Damon, but I think we should go. Even if she doesn't know anything, at least we can cross it off our list."

They lapsed in comfortable silence, eating their lunch. Bonnie enjoyed the ease of their companionship that echoed so many shared moments in the prison world. There they sat, both technically single, yet both tethered to a ghost. That's how she saw it. She knew Damon, she knew when he was pining and Elena was obviously the one he was pining for. Caroline had known; she had shoved Elena down his throat and, lo and behold, triggered his humanity. Whether she liked to admit it or not, that had dented her ego. She thought she understood Damon, she thought his feelings for Elena were less than they had been, that Stefan's spectacular fall from grace would be the wake-up call Damon's humanity needed, but no Elena's golden vagina won through again.

Wow, that sounded bitter, jealous and kind of weird given that Enzo had been her boyfriend at that moment. All too late, she was being to realise that maybe their relationship might have been a little unhealthy. She had told Caroline she was suicidal with loneliness when he was gone and, well, no one person should have that much effect on you. Looking back now, the loss of her renewed friendship with Damon had also hit her hard. She had tried to blame Damon when things went wrong, but Enzo was equally at fault. It made her feel uneasy, that everyone she knew including Matt was a murderer. How long would it be before Lizzie and Josie killed someone? She shuddered at the thought.

"Do you want the last brownie, Bon?"

Internally, she struggled for all of thirty seconds before she replied. "Can I take it for later?"

"Sure thing, little bird." He started to pack everything away, carefully wrapping up her chocolate treat separately.

"Damon?" She whispered, avoiding eye contact. "Could you thank him for me?"

"Will do." He replied simply.

* * *

"Care, you mustn't worry. I'm going to be fine." Bonnie had dreaded explaining her and Damon's scheme to Caroline and sure enough, mother hen mode had kicked in with vengeance.

"I can't help it." The blonde fretted. "I mean that place has so many associations and..." She tailed off.

Bonnie sighed. Everyone was treating her like she was a fragile flower about to fall apart if she left the hot house. Truth was she felt a little stifled by all the concern. Caroline meant well, but that girl could be smothering. "I was supposed to be travelling the world right now. A 5-hour trip to Asheville, North Carolina is not going to kill me. Besides Damon will be with me."

"That's what I'm worried about." Caroline's lips twitched with distain, but she pulled Bonnie into a tight hug. "Besides, that trip is going to take so much longer, maybe you should stay overnight."

"Yeah, we might just do that." Bonnie murmured back, appreciating just how much Caroline cared. "Do you fancy some tea?" She pulled away from her friend, hoping to stem her concern.

"Thanks, that would be nice."

* * *

Stefan was in the kitchen as always, well there or in the library desperately trying to help Damon as much as he could. His brother had told him about his trip and knew that Caroline would be about to fly off the handle, so he decided to make some camomile tea to soothe her. As the electric kettle had dramatically stopped working just the other day, he placed a saucepan under the tap to fill and he turned his attention to lighting the gas. He clicked the gas on and fired the ignition; the blue flame flickered and went out. He frowned, annoyed. The flame burst alight again and flared up to a height of six inches. Mesmerised, he froze.

"Stefan!" The voice from the doorway, failed to pull him from his stupor. The flames flared, doubling in height. "Stefan?" Bonnie bustled in, pushing him out of the way and clicking off the gas, before turning to him, hands on hips with a glare on her face. "What was that?"

Stefan blinked owlishly, barely able to focus. The water in the pan was now spilling over the sides into the sink, but neither he nor Bonnie went to shut the tap off, knowing vampire ears were listening. He just stared at her, silently, not wanting to verbalise all the weird shit that had happened to him recently. Because once that cat was out the bag, it made it all real and he wasn't prepared to face that just yet.

Bonnie was having none of it. "When did it start? Does Caroline know?" Yeah, she went there. Stefan's weak point was her best friend and Bonnie was prepared to get dirty to find out the truth.

Stefan was caught and he knew it. "Honestly, since I turned human and no, Caroline doesn't know. I'm trying to find a way to tell her."

"And Damon?"

"No. I... " He trailed off. "Look, I didn't wake up suddenly being able to do magic." He kept his voice low, despite the water thundering into the sink. "It started in Argentina, at first I thought the electricity was problem, then that Caroline had bought the wrong adapters."

"As if." Bonnie scoffed. "Magic is dangerous. You, of all people, should know better than to screw around with it."

Stefan ran a frustrated hand through his hair. "I'm trying to get it under control, but it's not like I have an abundance of help, I mean who could I turn to? Freya Mikaelson? Valerie?"

Newbie witches were Bonnie's kryptonite. Stefan could have murdered a dozen puppies in front of her and it wouldn't stop her feeling bad for him. She remembered just how terrifying it had been to come into her own powers nearly a decade previously. She also remembered how Stefan had been a quiet, supportive presence in the background, probably because of Elena or his relationship with her forebears, but there none the less. She couldn't help him directly, things were still too raw, but she had an idea. "Look, about the control thing. Think of it as similar to controlling your bloodlust." She disappeared for a second, only to return with a small notebook which she handed to him.

"What's this?" Stefan looked a little confused.

"It's a witch primer. I put it together for Josie and Lizzie. Admittedly, it's a touch babyish, but it should keep you going for a couple of days."

"Thanks, Bonnie, this is amazing."

"You're welcome, none of the spells are dangerous." She went to leave. "The candle trick, Caroline thinks it's hot FYI." She gave him a serious look. "Just tell her, no good comes of keeping secrets. Now, can you make some tea without burning the house down?"

"I think I can manage that." He turned back to the cooker and put the pan on to boil.

* * *

 **AN: I'm not really that happy with this chapter. I totally thought it was Alex St John that died in 8x02 not Veronica so that's how I plan to continue. In my mind, Damon's feelings for Bonnie have grown steadily since the prison world, him desiccating made no sense unless he was already partly in love with her. Speaking of Bonnie, she hasn't forgiven Stefan, but that doesn't mean she doesn't have some compassion for his plight. And Stefan is still working hard behind the scenes at earning her forgiveness, but at the same time, he's not going to self-flagellate about killing Enzo – his life is finite now. Thanks for the reviews – they are really useful.**


	9. The truth will set you free

**Thanks for the reviews! Enjoy.**

* * *

Dorian wasn't entirely sure how he had ended up as an unpaid intern working in sleepy Mystic Falls, but he was glad he had. Firstly, because the Armory stuff was exciting. Prof Saltzman was setting a collaboration with a top university and he was hoping this might get him funding for a PhD. Secondly, even though he had crashed and burned with the gorgeous Bonnie, the town had a plethora of good looking, single women. Finally, running into Stefan Salvatore had given him some closure on his father's and sister's horrendous deaths, after years of not quite knowing what happened.

The truth will set you free, so they say.

Okay, that wasn't quite true, but having his student loans paid off and a bit of money in the bank thanks to a certain ex-vampire certainly helped. Living rent free in the Armory was also useful, so he didn't mind helping out with the mystery of what happened to the professor despite the obvious danger of dabbling in the supernatural.

He was just getting started on the next pile of transcriptions when Caroline entered the building. He was happy to see the blonde vampire, she had been kind to him despite her shady husband and equally murderous brother-in-law. "Hi. Where's Bonnie?" He queried, trying to appear nonchalant.

"I'm afraid she's off on a field trip today with Damon." She gave him an amused look, that told him she saw straight through him. "I'm here to take over, along with Stefan. Don't worry I'll stick him in a back office so you don't run into him."

"That's okay. We're kind of even, I did try and kill him after all." At that moment, Stefan came through the door looking hassled and carrying a pile of brightly coloured boxes and a heap of stationary supplies. The two men gave each other a cautious nod as a greeting.

"Excellent." Caroline clapped her hands. "Right, let's get to work. Could you show me Bonnie's organisational system? Sounds like she's on the right track, but there's nothing that can't be improved with a bit of colour coded filing."

Dorian looked at Stefan who shrugged. There was no doubt as to who was in charge now.

* * *

As Caroline had annoyingly predicted, the journey to Asheville took longer than expected despite eating the lunch that Stefan had carefully prepared for them on the move. The good-natured bickering slowly gave way to more heated discussion as they got closer to their destination. Bonnie, unsure she was ready to face these particular ghosts, grew more argumentative to the point where Damon actually backed down purely to keep the peace.

Glad to finally be out of the Camaro, they walked through the doors of the centre. The weird institutional smell of bleach and unidentifiable meat hitting Bonnie with a kaleidoscope of memories and knocking her off balance. As if sensing her discomfort, Damon placed a caring hand on the small of her back which made her feel all tingly, but at least distracted her from the situation in hand. The receptionist at the welcome desk eyed them suspiciously.

"Hi. I'm here to see Virginia St. John. I'm Bonnie McCullough, I was a patient here and this is..."

"Dr Lorenzo St. John." Damon interrupted.

The receptionist looked shocked. "I remember you, Bonnie, and you should know that you can't just show up here." She sighed.

"Yes, I'm sorry. It's an impromptu visit. You're right, I should have called ahead."

Damon moved in about to compel her to let them in when the receptionist relented. "Maybe you should speak to the doctor. Sign in, please." She picked up the phone, made a couple of calls and the next they knew they were be ushered through the security doors towards the doctor's office.

"Well that was...unexpected." Damon murmured.

"It can't be a good sign. By the way, what the hell was that all about?" Bonnie hissed.

"I don't know. Just go with it." He replied, speaking out of the corner of his mouth.

The doctor, a middle-aged woman with a kindly, worn face and brown hair pulled severely into a bun, greeted the pair and bade them to sit down. "Excuse the bluntness, but how did you know Virginia?" She asked.

"I was a patient here about eight months ago. Virginia became a good friend."

"Ah that would explain why I didn't recognise your name. I only started here recently after the last director left, under..." She paused and looked up at Bonnie, "difficult circumstances. There's no easy way to say this, but your friend, Virginia, she committed suicide. The voices in her head, the delusions were just too much. I'm so sorry for your loss."

Bonnie's eyes sparkled with tears at yet another young life cut short by this insane supernatural world they lived in. Damon just slumped in the chair at this latest dead end. "When did this happen?" He asked dispassionately.

"A few months ago. We have been trying to trace a next of kin, but as she wasn't married and both her sisters are dead, we came up short. Are you a relation by any chance?"

"Err, yes. A distant cousin." Bonnie was going to kill him for this.

"In that case, I think you should have this." The doctor picked up a cardboard box from the floor. "It's her effects and her ashes."

Damon's face flickered. "I didn't really know her."

"There is no one else, Dr St. John. Her memorial service was incredibly sad, a young girl in the prime of life..." The doctor shook her head sadly as she pressed the box into Damon's hands. "There's obviously going to be an inquest. I can let you know when it occurs."

"Thank you, I would be most grateful." Damon replied, desperate to carry off the professional charade. Unable to shake her hand, he waved awkwardly as a way of taking his leave. Bonnie had remained completely silent throughout the whole exchange, tears unshed, her face slipping into emotionlessness. That worried him, a lot.

Back at the car, Damon wondered what the hell to do with the box. It contained Virginia's ashes, he couldn't just throw them on the back seat or in the trunk. For a vampire, death should be part of life, but somehow, he was completely at a loss. As if reading his mind, Bonnie carefully took the box from him and climbed elegantly into the passenger seat. Not knowing what to do next, he decided to give Stefan a call.

"How did it go? Did Virginia have any answers?"

"No, she's dead."

"Oh." His brother replied. "I'm sorry. Are you okay? How's Bonnie?"

"She hasn't said a word since she found out. I don't think we should come back tonight, it's getting late and I really don't fancy a completely silent ride back."

"Thought that might be the case, so I took the liberty of booking you into a hotel, granted it's not a 5-star luxury hotel, it's more of a homey B&B retreat type place, but Caroline assures me Bonnie will love it."

Damon's eyes narrowed, he knew his brother well enough to realise there was a massive grin plastered across his face. "As long as I get a rare steak and a decent bottle of Chianti, I'm golden. Speaking of Caroline, what are you two up to tonight?"

"Hacking Ric's laptop." Stefan replied, humourlessly. "Any guesses at his password?"

"Bourbon123? No, I'm out. I'll let you know when we're on the road tomorrow."

"Okay, Damon, enjoy!" Stefan was positively cackling at the other end of the phone.

* * *

Glaring around the suite Stefan had reserved for them, he wanted to kick the Arts and Crafts furniture. The whole thing had his fucking brother written all over it, a simple, rustic, vegan retreat with yoga, tai chi and no damn alcohol. The only thing that kept him from losing his shit was the fact that Bonnie had cracked a smile for the first time all afternoon. "So," He said through gritted teeth. "Shall we check out the grounds?"

The retreat was in a beautiful mountainside setting and soon the pair were hiking through the deep green foliage. Bonnie noticed Damon casually checking his stride so she could keep up easily. It was nice to be out and about after a day of trapped in a car and braving the hospital. Her witch senses were heightened with her proximity to nature. Her buzzing mind became quiet as she took in the beauty surroundings. Finally, they reached a clearing and took in the view. Damon was unusually quiet, so she broke the silence. "I'm sad that Virginia saw no other way out and I feel bad for her, but she killed Lucy..."

Damon was just glad Bonnie was talking to him again. "Everyone's an asshole, Bon - what can I say."

"That's it, isn't it? We all have blood on our hands. I've killed, so has Caroline, Elena, Matt, Tyler." She caught his guilty look. "When will it end, Damon? What makes any of us any different?" She sounded flat and defeated

"Hey." He replied, pulling her into his arms and holding her close. Her check grazed against his cool shoulder as the first tear fell. She attempted to brush it away, but he was there quicker and that tiny gesture opened the floodgates. He held her as sobs wracked her fragile body. She cried for Enzo, for Virginia, for Lucy, for her father and her grams and finally she cried for herself. Damon gently absorbed her tears, he soaked up her sorrow and slowly she began to realise that she wasn't as alone in the world as she felt. He wasn't perfect, she knew that, but right here, right now, he was exactly what she needed.

"Bon, I think we need to get back. I for one am looking forward to my silken tofu and mung bean stew." He gave her a gentle, jokey nudge.

"Don't worry. Caroline text to let me know she stashed a bottle of Bourbon in the trunk, next to the blood bag cooler. Although a night off might actually do you good."

"Ha bloody ha. I already agreed to 7am yoga, Bennett. Don't push it." He growled playfully.

"I look forward to seeing you in a pair of yoga pants." She sassed back, actually feeling lighter than she had in a while.

Damon shuddered, he was going to kill his brother when he got home.

* * *

Kissing Lizzie and Josie good night, Caroline felt a sense of achievement, despite the sad news from Bonnie and Damon. Between herself, Stefan and Dorian, they had blitzed the Armory paperwork and were getting a handle on the complicated history of the place. Where Alaric fitted into the mystery was still, well a mystery. Maybe his laptop would give them something to go on, but first, she needed dinner.

Caroline licked her lips, knowing that Stefan would serve up something tasty. Descending the staircase, the whole place was in darkness. In the kitchen, Stefan had set up a small table with a fancy white tablecloth, the finest Salvatore silver and china and a single, burning candlestick. "Well, this is romantic." She smiled. "You didn't have to go to all this trouble."

"You're more than worth it, besides I have something I want to talk to you about."

"It's not bad news, is it? I don't think I could take any more."

"No, it's actually good news. Here, sit down, I'll just get the wine." He was smiling, a secretive cocky little smile that she hadn't seen him wearing since the first time he proposed.

Caroline was suspicious, she couldn't help it, but she was also hungry and the spaghetti alle vongole smelt amazing, so she sat down while he poured some of the best wine from Damon's cellar. She dug into her food and sighed "Ummm, this is amazing, Stefan. It's kind of dark though and I bet this looks as good as it tastes. Could we light another couple of candles?"

Stefan's lips twitched wryly, but he didn't move. "Okay."

A second candle flickered into life, Caroline taken by surprise, looked back at Stefan whose eyes were closed in concentration. Another candle flared, then another and another. Open mouthed, she tried to take in what was happening as a hundred candles burst into flame. "Stefan?" She queried, half stunned. "What's going on?"

"I'm a witch." He replied simply. "Or a warlock, I haven't quite worked out which moniker I prefer."

"But how? When did it happen?"

"I'm guessing this has something to do with Silas. He was a witch when he was mortal; I'm his human doppelganger. It makes sense I suppose. I'm sorry I didn't tell you earlier. I wasn't 100% sure, but after Bonnie confirmed it for me yesterday, I wanted to impress you." He looked away, shyly.

"This is incredible." Caroline's nose scrunched up as she took in what he was saying. "Are you okay?"

"Honestly, yes. I thought controlling it would be an issue, but after fighting my ripper urges for 150 years, I know a bit about self-control, plus Bonnie gave me this." He handed her the notebook.

"Oh my God, this is adorable." She said, thumbing through the pages of neat text and cute diagrams. "Can you do anything else?"

"Sure, does your meal need a bit more pepper?"

"Well, maybe a little." She looked perplexed as Stefan murmured something in Latin. The salt and pepper pots came floating through the air and landed with a bump on the table on front of her. She rolled her eyes playfully at him and forked some pasta into my mouth. After a few more mouthfuls, she paused. "I'm guessing there's nothing about giving vampires an aneurysm in there."

"Sadly, no, but I'm really hoping to learn that one as soon as possible. Don't worry, I'll use Damon as target practice." He twirled some spaghetti around his fork and added. "I'll be less vulnerable to any vampire wanting to snatch the cure. You won't have to watch over me like a hawk anymore."

"I do not." She pouted. "Well, can you blame me? You're a danger magnet! Between you and Bonnie, I'm surprised my hair isn't completely grey." She looked at him and smiled "I'm not going to let anything happen to you, okay?"

He grinned back at her. "I know. Thanks, I do appreciate it."

"I'm smothering. I can't help it." She replied dramatically. A thought suddenly struck her. "So, are there any X-rated spells in Bonnie's notebook?"

"Caroline Forbes-Salvatore, I am shocked." He pulled a mock horrified face.

"Oh, come on, you love it."

"You're right, I do." He winked. "Sadly no, but witch vampire couplings can be a lot of fun."

"Does Bonnie know about you and her great grams?" Caroline shot back.

"She, Amelia and Sheila used to have tea parties on the Other Side. She knows." Stefan blushed.

"Well, I vote that we experiment a little with what you have learned." She added suggestively.

"We still need to hack into Alaric's computer." He sighed.

"We'll do that later, but first, Harry Potter, show me some moves."

"I'm hardly..." Caroline cut him off by pulling him close and crushing her lips against his. He deepened the kiss, caressing her back with warm, feather light strokes.

She pulled away knowing she had him hooked. "Oh please, how many times have you cheated death recently? Don't forget your wand!" She skipped seductively up the stairs, shedding her clothes one by one. Stefan shook his head and followed her, completely whipped.

* * *

A couple of hours later, Caroline was sat up in bed all aglow, with the laptop open in front of her.

"Do you have any idea what his password might be?" Stefan queried, hoping he wasn't going to have to put forward Damon's suggestion.

"I know what it used to be." She looked serious and typed in 'Josette1972'. The desktop opened and Stefan glanced over as Caroline went straight to his emails. "He never really loved me, you know. I think he just wanted someone to be mom to the twins, someone who wasn't going to die."

Stefan hated even thinking about the two of them together, but he got it. He too had been desperate and lonely and that had made Valerie seem like a good prospect. Why had they wasted so much time? He leant over to kiss her bare shoulder and stopped when he saw what Caroline was reading. "Wait, so..."

"Yeah, I'll call Bonnie first thing tomorrow. I hope they are up for a trip to Durham."

* * *

 **AN: Okay I feel pretty bad because I still haven't got around to writing about Alaric's predicament. Truth be told, although I cried like a baby when he died in 3x20, I pretty much hated him in S6-8. Sorry if he was anyone's favourite, but Steroline and Bamon just give me so many feels at the moment. The reviewer who wants Damon to kiss Bonnie - I really want that too. We have only waited 8 seasons; what's a little longer. Oh and of course, Dorian fancies Bonnie (who doesn't!) and respects Caroline (their S8 scenes in the Grill were cute even if it was essentially all about hitting us over the head that Caroline is only strong because she's a vampire, blah, blah) and I want to integrate him into the gang. Shame canon makes that so hard, hopefully his situation is kind of believable.**


	10. Magic always leads to trouble

**This chapter is long, jumps about a bit and feels like a bit of an information dump in places, sorry. Hope you enjoy it none the less!**

* * *

"So, Professor Saltzman, if I may call you that, given that your academic record is somewhat chequered, I should introduce myself. I am Augustus St. John." The wizened, grey haired man in strange flowing robes had a surprisingly commanding voice for someone so small and hunched over. "I see my acolytes haven't been kind at you. Please forgive their boorish ways."

"Why am I here?" Alaric's patience had worn thin after days locked up in his cell.

"All in good time." Augustus picked up a sheaf of papers. "Let's recap, shall we? You became the custodian of the Armory just over six months ago. On whose authority?

"The place was a wreck, it needed to be secured from vandals and looters."

"So, you just walked in and took charge?"

"Sort of." Alaric mumbled.

* * *

"Last time we met, she shot me with a bow and arrow!" Damon looked peevish. He had not been happy when Bonnie had taken Caroline's phone call and was even less pleased that they were now heading to Duke University.

"You probably deserved it." Bonnie didn't know if it was the yoga or the good hard cry, or the fact that she and Damon were on a mission, but she felt invigorated today. "Don't worry, Caroline called ahead. Dr Monroe is expecting us this time."

"The mentee becomes the mentor." Damon murmured. "What? She was Isobel's research assistant and now she's heading up with Alaric's Armory research team. I would say that's a pretty stellar trajectory. I mean what have you done for yourself over the last 8 years?"

Bonnie bristled at the insinuation. "I nearly killed an original hybrid, I died three times in order to bring people back from the dead, I have battled vampires, werewolves, witches, heretics and a siphoning psychopath, and then I took down the devil while simultaneously creating a prison world especially for the aforementioned psychopath. What have you done aside from kill people, drink Bourbon, steal your brother's girlfriend, make a cursory effort to rescue me from the prison world and then kill a bunch more people with Sybil?"

"Yes, both you and I have done all those things, but that wasn't my question. What have you done for yourself?" Damon was trying to prove a point, but he asked gently.

"I managed to graduate high school while I was dead and I completed my degree, admittedly without enjoying the full college experience. Oh, and I snagged you as my best friend."

Damon waited for her to mention Enzo or their trip to Paris or maybe even Jeremy, but no. It made him feel a little lightheaded. "Well, Bon, tonight we are going to do whatever you want - frat parties, beer pong, limbo dancing. It's yours for the taking, let's give you that full college experience."

Bonnie smiled at him, a little wistfully. "I got a place at Duke, did you know that? Decent scholarship too." From the surprised look on his face, he obviously didn't. "Whitmore was Caroline and Elena's dream, not mine."

"Bon."

"It's okay, Damon. I mean, how does a ghost take up a place at college?" She shrugged. "I accepted my fate." She replied lightly. "Let's go see Dr Munroe and find out what we can."

* * *

"So, you're saying that you and Dr Munroe got consent from a highly medicated delusional young woman to exploit her birth right? That hardly seems… ethical."

Alaric shifted uncomfortably under Augustus' steely gaze. "Well, I wouldn't put it quite like that. Ms St. John was just pleased to have a caretaker in place." Liar, he mentally chastised himself, her words to him had been " _Take it, nothing good comes from that place. I wash my hands of it."_

"That's as maybe, but Ms St. John is sadly no longer with us, so whatever consent you had..." Holding his palm upwards, a puff of smoke burst from his open hand. "Now hand over the key."

Alaric would have given them up in a heartbeat, only he didn't have them. "There is no key. The Amory is locked down by magic."

"I know that." Augustus snapped, the pleasant mask slipping for a second. "I was talking metaphorically. Which Bennett witch is responsible this? I thought we had them all accounted for."

Alaric tried to ignore the sinister tone. "Bonnie Bennett."

"I refuse to believe you. Bonnie Bennett is dead."

"Well, she did die and come back to life and lost her magic and found it again, so I can see why you might be confused."

"Well, this is…" Augustus searched around for the right word. "Aggravating."

"What's all this got to do with you anyway?"

"That, Professor Saltzman, is for me to know. You not so much. Escort him back to the cells."

* * *

"Looking at this," Stefan pulled over a large yellowed sheet of parchment. "Cross referencing with this," He grabbed a second sheet. "And tabulating with this, it would appear that the St. John family have a long and volatile history dating back to the crusades. Their main legacy seems to be the foundation of various hospitals despite the infighting, backstabbing and a whole heap of fighting over inheritance. Only, I think they used their hospitals as a cover for magical experimentation."

"Well, yes, we know that." Caroline looked annoyed, that her husband was stating the obvious.

Stefan, used to her impatience, smiled lovingly. "Where it gets interesting is here, with Enzo's father, Bartholomew St. John, founding the Armory. This letter is all about his express wish of keeping the family's collection of magical artefacts safe and ' _away from those who would use them for evil'_. Yet, not long after his brother, Dalton St. John is in charge and trying to crack open the vault. Now where it gets really interesting is here." He pulled out the genealogy he and Damon had worked on previously. "Bartholomew and Dalton are here and their names are written in black ink, only there is another brother, Augustus. I couldn't see this before when Damon sent me the images, but his name is written in dark purple."

As Dorian leant over to see what Stefan was talking about, Caroline huffed: so far, so boring. She was about to order the two men back to work, when Dorian spoke up. "Purple, the colour of magic."

"Yep." Stefan replied.

* * *

Vanessa Monroe was objectively clever, beautifully dressed, perfectly coiffured and absolutely gorgeous. She remembered Damon and seemed surprisingly pleased to see him and concerned that Alaric was missing.

"How did you two come to be working together?"

"We kept in touch after Isobel died. He just wanted her work to mean something, I suppose and I happened to be in the right place at the right time. I got lucky." She looked away guiltily. "When he came to me looking for help with his research project, I said yes, even if the circumstances weren't entirely above board. Mind you, the St. John family aren't exactly a bunch of saints either."

Damon saw Bonnie about to take umbrage with that so he slipped into Salvatore charm mode. "Well, none of us are saints, but you're here talking to me." He replied with a flirty smile. "What could be so bad about them?"

She shot him a seductive smile back. "Some girls love a bad boy, Damon, but these guys are something else. Pretty much every magical article in the Armory has been misappropriated, seized or downright stolen from their original owners under the guise of trying to protect the world from magic. They trade on their non-supernatural status."

"Well that would make sense, wouldn't it?" Damon replied, wiggling his eyebrows at her. "Letting the muggles keep the dangerous stuff."

"Trust a guy who fought for the confederates to see it that way!" Bonnie snorted, discomforted by the idea that Enzo had been mixed up in all this, even as a double agent.

"Except they are hardly neutral, they experiment on supernatural beings and use magic to benefit them when they can. Over the years, they have had various witches in their pay, ostentatiously for protection, but I'm not so sure. They recruit widely within the supernatural community. It's a shady old business." She addressed her comments to Damon, flicking her hair as she spoke.

"The entire family are dead, so could there be enemies that have taken Alaric?" Bonnie interrupted, a touch jealous the flirting that was going on in front of her.

"I wouldn't be so sure about that. The St. John family has plenty of branches that have been cut out or disowned over the years. I would start within before looking outwards." Vanessa smiled, sagely.

* * *

Damon was frustrated as kicked off his shoes and plonked himself down on the hotel bed that Caroline had been in charge of booking to his exacting standards – 5 stars with a restaurant run by a top chef, a selection of high end, top shelf alcohol and no yoga. Despite his moaning, this morning's class had been not completely awful; he had learnt just how flexible Bonnie was and it seemed to lift her spirits. Although, the meeting with Dr Munroe seemed to have pushed her back into silence and she obviously hadn't enjoyed his fake charm offensive. Not that it had got them anywhere, another 'more questions than answers' kind of a day. Bonnie was now in the hotel gym and without her to talk to, the boredom was overwhelming. He picked up his phone and considered calling Stefan, but he couldn't be bothered listening to his chirpy updates about his perfect life as a doting husband and stepfather. For an uncharitable moment, Damon wondered exactly how much his brother actually wanted Alaric back. Signing into the hotel WIFI, he decided to keep his promise to Bonnie and search out a true college experience to make up for the disappointment of the day.

Vanessa Munroe's words had struck a chord with Bonnie. Sure, she was aggravated with Damon and his stupid flirting and the weird-assed pang of jealousy it seemed to raise in her, but the visit had sparked a flicker of an idea. She needed to think and pounding the treadmill was helping her clear her frazzled mind. From that clarity, the memory she had tried to access hit her like a juggernaut. Bounding up the hotel stairs two at a time, she burst into her and Damon's suite. "If Dr Munroe is right, I have an idea on how to locate Alaric."

Damon was just glad to hear Bonnie talk to him. "That's great. Maybe you can explain over shots tonight. You and I are going to a frat party."

* * *

It was Caroline's turn to pick up the twins from nursery that evening, so Stefan was still at the Armory, casually avoiding Dorian. His human brain had been pushed to the limits, so he took himself off to the museum room to unwind. The original glass display cases were shattered and the priceless magical talismans could be easily accessed. Subconsciously, he was drawn to a case in the corner containing a mask. Without having seen it before, he recognised it as belonging to Silas. Tracing his fingers across the mask, he felt a tingle, a connection dating back two millennia, but also a chill. Stefan felt uncomfortable in this place, maybe he wasn't used to the magical energy that surged and crackled around him, maybe the Armory was awash with bad karma, maybe he just needed a good night's sleep. He rubbed the back of his neck, deciding there and then to head home to Caroline and an early night.

"Been taking a turn around the museum?"

Stefan looked up, surprised to see Dorian there. "Yeah." He replied. "There's some interesting stuff. More interesting than all the documents, that's for sure." He gestured to the mask. "I mean this is 2000 years old, it's crazy." He didn't tell him that the mask was made for a distant, psychotic, witch ancestor who looked exactly like him.

Maybe be Dorian didn't get out much, but he seemed to brighten at the subject. "Did Alaric not tell you about the secret room in the vault?"

"No." Stefan replied, an uneasy feeling sweeping over him.

"Well, you're in for a treat if you think this stuff is cool."

It took some persuading to get Stefan to don a blindfold and ear defenders, but within moments, he was gazing around the treasures of the vault. The air hummed and crackled with the same magical power as the museum, but it was much, much stronger down here. It made him feel anxious, the palpable danger of having so many potential weapons in one room. Who else knew about this?

Dorian followed him into the chamber. Even though, he had seen it before, he was agog with the sight of the numerous artefacts, but, as Stefan quickly realised, oblivious to their magical powers. Excited, Dorian ran his fingers over a decorative gold cup, opening his mouth to debate its origins. Sparks flew, a magical jolt sending him flying across the vault, knocking him out cold.

Stefan could only look on, horrified. He tried to rouse the prone figure, but it was fruitless. Panicking, he adjusted his sensory deprivation gear and grabbed Dorian under the armpits, took a deep calming breath, cleared his mind and dragged the intern unceremoniously out of the vault. Normally, the first thing he would trying was his blood, but that wouldn't work so he carried Dorian out to his car. Tearing towards the boarding house, he prayed quietly that no cop would stop him and that the quoted top speed of the Maserati wasn't a made-up marketing gimmick.

* * *

Damon was beginning to regret taking Bonnie to a frat party, particularly one where they were dressed in their high thread count hotel bed sheets masquerading as togas. Of course, Bonnie was the centre of attention, as she danced to the appalling music they were playing, swigging margaritas from red solo cup, a huge smile on her face. She giggled and flirted while he skulked in a corner, glad she was enjoying herself, but pissed that her attention wasn't on him. So, when she initiated a tipsy game of spin the bottle, but he couldn't say that he wasn't a tiny bit excited at the prospect, despite the raucous cheer that went up from the frat boys. Leading the games, her first spin had her landing on the second best looking guy in the room, an olive skinned, perfectly toned jock who reminded him of Tyler. The punch in the gut he felt was part guilt, part jealousy as Bonnie softly pressed her lips against his, before pulling away, batting those long eyelashes of hers at him. The guy looked completely stunned.

A couple of annoying blondes took a spin and shrieked with delight or horror, it was difficult to tell which, before puckering up. Next, an attractive, shapely brunette took her turn, the bottle landing on Bonnie. Damon fully expected Bonnie to demure, to offer up her cheek for a casual peck. He was mistaken - his friend giggled and crawled towards the girl, whose hand threaded through Bonnie's hair as their lips met. The kiss deepened inviting howls and wolf whistles from the onlookers. Damon's jealously hit a new all-time high as he grabbed the bottle ready to take his turn.

* * *

A breathless, trembling Stefan lifted Dorian's dead weight through the mansion door. Unable to carry him further, he placed Dorian as carefully as he could on the hall floor and hollered for Caroline, not caring, for once, about waking the girls.

She was there in a flash. "Stefan, what's going on?"

"Please just give him your blood."

She quickly squeezed a few drops into his open mouth. Despite it slipping down his throat, it made no difference to his rigid posture or his level of consciousness. "It's not working." She whispered. "What happened?"

"Magic." Stefan replied miserably. "It always leads to trouble."

* * *

Caroline was right, Bonnie really shouldn't drink tequila. It made her disinhibited before sending her into a spiral of outlandish behaviour. Spin the bottle, however, when you could magically fix the outcome was fun, not crazy, right? So far, Bonnie's recipients had been cute, but the reason for her starting this game had finally come to fruition. Damon's jealousy has been obvious and it made her feel a touch giddy. He looked particularly fine tonight in his improvised toga, his blue eyes bright and dancing, he looked almost regal. He set the bottle to spin as the gaggle of blondes eagerly awaited its destination. Bonnie concentrated as it stopped, pointing at her. She gave him a small come-hither smile.

Damon's eyebrows shot skywards in a Stefan-like manner, but it didn't stop him manning up and closing the gap between the two of them. He pressed his lips to her cheek close to her ear. "This is a bad idea, Bon." He whispered so only she could hear. His actions garnered him a series of boos from the crowd. "What?" He glared around the circle.

"Come on, Damon. You can do better than that." Bonnie's liquid courage fortified her.

"Remember, when you hate me tomorrow, that you asked for this." He growled and with a tenderness that she didn't realise he possessed, he kissed her. Bonnie had imagined kissing Damon, but this was something else. Even through the mind fog of Tequila, this felt right, spine tingling. Everything about him was softer and warmer than she had expected. Her hands went to the nape of his neck, running through the blunt hairs, one of his hands moved slowly up her bare arm, while the other stroked her cheek. The noise in the room now barely a murmur to them, the world slipped away and just the two of them remained.

Until Damon's phone emitted a shrill tune.

Barbie Girl by Aqua

Caroline was calling him. Things were obviously bad, really bad.

* * *

"Why is Bonnie not answering her phone?"

"Hello to you too, Care Bear."

"Damon, I swear to God, if you don't put her on right now."

"You'll what? Nag me to death? Set Stefan onto to me?"

"For fuck's sake, Damon." His brother's voice echoed in the back ground. "Dorian's had an accident, he's barely alive and we need Bonnie."

Damon handed his phone to his friend and a frantic Caroline described as best she could what had gone down.

"Put Stefan on." Bonnie commanded. Damon's ears pricked up, she ignored him. "Look at his fingers - what do you see?"

Over speaker phone, Stefan reported that the tips of Dorian's fingers on his right hand were glowing green.

"I think this is a stunning spell, he'll need help to come around. Caroline? Go to my room and get my grimoire, my Grams' one." She glanced around at Damon who was studiously pretending not to listen. Fuck it, Dorian's life was in the balance; Stefan's secret was coming out and the brothers would have to work it out later. "Okay, this is kind of advanced magic. What have you mastered so far?"

"The fire spell and some basic levitation." He said, trying to sound optimistic.

Bonnie grimaced, Stefan was a total beginner, but at this point, he was Dorian's only hope. "Clear your mind." She heard him sigh, obviously doubting himself. "Take his right hand and press his fingertips into your palm. You can do this." She affirmed.

"I've got the grimoire. Which page do we need?" Caroline was back.

"About a third of the way in, the one with the lightning bolt in the top right corner."

"Got it." The blonde replied, using vampire speed to flick through.

"There's a Latin incantation, but, Caroline, you need to write it out backwards for him to reverse the spell."

"I don't need..."

"He can do that in his head." The Salvatore brothers said at the same time. Bonnie turned to Damon, who shrugged his shoulders. "Take a deep breath and recite the words. Make sure you're connected both physically and mentally." Over the phone, she heard Stefan start the spell, the words sounding doubly odd as his voice wobbled slightly.

You could hear a pin drop.

"He's not coming around." Caroline's stressed voice broke the silence.

"Stefan." Bonnie got his attention. "Say it twice more." Stefan spoke again, this time more firmly and with greater feeling.

The seconds ticked by, nothing happened. The four of them held their collective breaths.

Caroline gasped. "Oh my God. I think he did it. Dorian's waking up!"

"Okay. He's going to feel pretty bad, so look after him tonight."

"Got it, rest and soup." Caroline replied, relief flooding her voice. In the background, Damon groaned at the thought of Caroline's horrible soup. "Thank you, Bon, you're amazing."

"This one's on your husband. Well done, Stefan." She cracked a smile of relief, that Dorian was okay. "We'll talk tomorrow."

"Stefan Antonio Salvatore!" Damon had to get the last word in. "I have questions for you, young man, don't think you've got away with this."

"Thanks again, Bonnie. Night, dad." His brother replied, cheekily, before hanging up on him.

* * *

Damon held his phone in his hands, staring at it for a few seconds. Crisis averted and now feeling much more sober, Bonnie glanced at her best friend, the feelings of that kiss cascading over her. She had kind of hoped that it might stem her curiosity, that it would be an unmitigated disaster and they would now be laughing it off over shots, but no. It had been wonderful and frankly she just wanted to do it again and again until she collapsed in a heap of feels.

What was wrong with her?

"Look, about Stefan..."

"I don't want to talk about my brother. He and I have 150 years of lies and secrets behind us. If the two of you thought whatever is going on should be kept from me, I trust that you did it for a good reason." He looked at her, really looked at her, daring her to try and squirm her way out of this. "What I do want to talk about is that kiss."

Bonnie felt her cheeks burn. He wanted to talk, what the hell could she say? That kissing him was everything she had ever wanted and more. That for those few moments all the insane shit was had been through had fallen away and she had felt like the naive teenager she had been before the Salvatores breezed into town and left a trail of destruction in their wake.

"So you do hate me then?" He continued. "I mean I thought I might have made it through until tomorrow morning before the loathing kicked in. Can't say I'm not used to it."

"I don't hate you, Damon. It was my fault too."

"So, you just want to forget that it happened?"

"Yeah, that would be great." The coward's way out, Bonnie, she chastised. The glimmer of the relief she felt was short-lived.

"Sorry Little Bird, no can do. Because I don't regret it, not for a moment and you shouldn't either." He leant towards her putting his hands on her hips so she couldn't pull away. He continued softly, his voice gentle with concern. "But I also know you're panicking like crazy at the moment and no matter what people think of me, I can't be an asshole with you. It's too much too soon, I get it. I'm not going to put pressure you." She didn't look horrified, in fact she looked thoughtful which he took as a good sign. "Do you to go back to the party, have a few more margaritas and dance the night away as best friends?" He smiled, as the tension in her shoulders eased, glad to see her starting to relax.

"Maybe there's a third way. How about pyjamas, popcorn and The Bodyguard?"

"You know what, Witchy. That might just be the best suggestion yet." He offered her his arm, like the courtly, nineteenth century gentleman he had been raised to be and escorted her back to their hotel.

* * *

 **AN: Bamon! They give me so many feels. I recently watched the deleted scenes from S8 and to no one's surprise, the majority of them feature Bonnie. I might try and include some of these into this fic because Bonnie deserves better. I plan to open the next chapter with Steroline so fret not.**


	11. Proceed with caution

It was nearly lunchtime and Caroline had been up for hours while the two men under their roof still snored. Normally, Stefan would have been kissed awake, but after being up half the night fretting about Dorian and studiously checking the Armory's CCTV for intruders, she was giving him a well-earned lie in. Damon had told them that the place had supernatural enemies, a fact borne out by the high number of nocturnal visitors it seemed to attract. Only Bonnie's magical shield seemed to keep them out, so essentially evil lurked both within and without the walls. Caroline shivered, she had no wish to go back there any time soon.

The girls were playing quietly in their palace, sensing there was something wrong. Every now and again, she would listen in using her vampire hearing to check they were okay and that nothing was on fire. Lizzie and Josie were good kids, as long as they had nothing to siphon off though. Stefan was rightfully being careful around them; fortunately, that didn't seem to stop them forming a close bond. With Dorian upstairs and Damon and Bonnie heading home later this afternoon, the Salvatore mansion was full, if a little sombre.

Light footsteps on the stairs alerted her to Stefan's presence. Hair artfully mussed, shirtless and smelling of sleep, he shambled into the kitchen towards her, placed his hands on her hips and drew her into a light kiss as she slipped her hands around his neck. He deepened the kiss and she playfully responded tangling her tongue with his. He growled, his hands moving downwards, lifting her up so she perched on the kitchen counter. Her legs wrapped around his waist and dragged him closer until she felt him stiffen against her. Realising things were getting a little heated, he pulled away, gave her a smile and glanced around the kitchen, raising his eyebrows. "You making pancakes? Is that wise?"

"Ha bloody ha, darling husband." She ran a cheeky hand down his bare torso. "Don't you have any clean shirts?"

"Are you complaining?" He flirted. "Dorian's still asleep, I checked, and the twins are upstairs." He moved in to kiss her again, but this time, she mischievously dodged him.

"Well, you better not burn yourself when you make me brunch, had you?"

Stefan was whipped, he knew it, she knew it. He grabbed a new pan, heating it to the perfect temperature and creating a stack of perfectly fluffy pancakes topped with sweet berries. Caroline poured the coffee, an orange juice for Stefan and a glass of B+ for herself. They settled down to an intimate meal. After feeding each other a few mouthfuls of pancake, Caroline paused and addressed him. "Bonnie text me earlier. She needs us to collect some herbs for a spell. She seemed to think you would know where to look." She passed over her phone.

Stefan silently looked through the list, nodding occasionally. "Looks pretty do-able." He set the phone aside, picked up several berries on his fork and fed them to Caroline. "So, we are not going back to the Amory this afternoon?" He questioned, trying to keep the conversation light.

"I don't think we should." Looking serious, Caroline put her own fork down. "It's too dangerous."

"We will be okay if we avoid the vault." He looked dubious, like he didn't believe what he was saying. The flirty mood had all but vanished.

"No, Stefan. I don't like it." She replied with authority. "If you feel uneasy there, we shouldn't be there. We'll find another way to help Alaric." She laid her hand on his arm, urging him to look at her. "Does this magic stuff scare you?"

"I knew it wouldn't be all parlour tricks and illusions, but things got real pretty quickly last night. I thought Dorian was going to die." His eyes met hers, brooding and serious. "I'm going to have to work at this. I need to be able to protect you." He took her hand. "And Josie and Lizzie."

She smiled. "I'll be fine, but thank you. Speaking of those who need protection, I don't think we should let Dorian go back to the Armory, particularly as he's living there."

"Caroline, he is a grown man. We can't stop him doing anything." Charmed by her huge heart, he couldn't help but smile.

"Can't you do a blocking spell? There must be something. We've lost so many people, I just don't think I could handle any more." She looked away.

"Hey." He took her chin in his hand. "We will find Alaric, I promise you." He pressed his lips to her forehead. Hearing the clatter of tiny feet on the stairs, a shirt magically appeared in his hand and he drew away, slipping it on. He turned to his open-mouthed wife and winked. "I mean, who doesn't love a naked chef?"

* * *

Over the years, Damon had observed Stefan from the shadows on numerous occasions, but he had never seen his brother quite like this. The look of concentration on the younger Salvatore's face was nothing unusual, but the books, floating from the bed, pivoting in the air and coming to rest with a soft, precise thump on the book shelf, certainly were. The heavier books required more concentration and some of the movements were more jerky than others. Colour him impressed, Stefan was a quick study, not that he expected it any other way. Damon coughed to alert him to his presence, an unpleasant smirk on his face. "So, baby bro, this explains a lot."

"That I'm a witch, yeah." His brother replied warily.

"Yeah, I mean why else were all those women obsessed with you? It couldn't have been your performance in bed."

Stefan was pissed, Damon was being crass for no apparent reason. "Maybe I just know how to treat women and don't have to compel them to like me."

Damon blinked, his face set in stone. He got Stefan's not so subtle hint. If he was totally honest with himself, he hated that Bonnie and Stefan had a link of sorts. Sure, his brother was blinded by Blondie's charms and he would never go there with Bon, but for some reason, despite his reassuring words, the fact the two of them shared a secret, even briefly, irked him. "Why didn't you tell me?"

Stefan's green eyes appraised him. "Aside from the piss taking and jokes at my expense, I hadn't told Caroline and I wanted her to be the first to know. I wasn't sure exactly what was going on and it wasn't until Bonnie caught me that I understood the full extent of my situation." He rubbed a tired hand over his face.

His brother dropping the Bonnie bomb should have sent Damon spiralling into a jealous rage, but for once, he actually listened to Stefan, not just to the words, but to the tone in his voice, the expression on his brooding face. His brother was on edge. In just under a year, he had gone from being a marked man to a finally happy vampire with decent control to a blood lust driven ripper to a depressed and suicidal human to a newbie witch. Add to that the acquisition of a wife and two siphoning stepdaughters. No wonder he was scared. "I'll do whatever I can to help, alright." His voice softened. "Hell, I'll even volunteer for spell practice if that's what it takes." He placed his hands on his brother's shoulders, catching his eye and nodding a little to show he was serious.

Stefan exhaled. "I hope it doesn't come to that, but thanks for offering." Troubled, he looked like he was about to add something, but instead pulled Damon into a tight hug, squeezing his eyes shut. After a few moments, he drew back holding his brother at arms' length. "I can't say I'm not concerned. I just wish this Alaric thing was resolved and we could get back to normal life."

Damon looked thoughtful. "I don't think we were ever destined to have normal lives, sadly."

"No, I suppose we weren't. I'm just glad we're in this together after everything that's happened."

"Me too, Stef. Me too." He clapped him on the shoulder and changed the subject. "Did you get all Bonnie's herbs?"

"Yeah, fortunately the greenhouse is still thriving, thanks to Caroline."

"Let's find out exactly what Witchy's plans are then."

* * *

"It's a complicated locator spell that requires three main elements. Because there is magic concealing Alaric's whereabouts, using his blood alone won't work, but we still need it for this spell. Stefan and Dorian's discovery of the magical St. John line leads me to suspect that they may be involved." Bonnie drew out the necklace that Enzo had given her.

"Don't you want to keep that, Bonnie?" Caroline queried, concerned for her friend.

"I have no need for Enzo's blood, given I have two willing vampire donors in case of emergency." She glanced quickly at Damon which only Caroline caught. "I need to let go." She continued, firmly. "The third part is the one I'm least sure about. Dr Munroe said we should look inwards. Who were the Armory chasing for their magic?"

No one replied, although they all had an inkling what was coming.

"They needed a Bennett witch to seal the vault. They hunted me for my blood. I think my blood can break their concealment spell.

Stefan and Caroline stared at her in silence, worried.

"No, absolutely no way." Damon shouted at her. "We don't know how dangerous this is. What are you hiding Bon? You can't die again."

"It's not dangerous, Damon. You're being ridiculous."

"Bonnie, you can't do this. I agree with Damon." Caroline argued.

"Look guys, I appreciate the concern, but I can do this. I'm stronger now than ever."

Caroline looked dubious, but before she could argue the plaintive call of a distressed Lizzie summoned her away. Damon shot her an angry look before stalking out to hook himself up with a Bourbon.

Bonnie fixed Stefan with a challenging look. "Nothing to say?"

"I don't think you should do it either." He shrugged. "But that's not going to stop you, is it?"

"No." Bonnie dropped her head to her hands. "What else can I do?"

Stefan knelt down quietly before her and gently took her wrists pulling her hands away. "If you are determined to do this, then let me help you."

She scoffed. "You're a complete beginner. You got lucky with Dorian."

"That's as maybe, but I helped Amelia before and I can help you. Just tell me, what you need me to do."

"Caroline..."

"I'll square this away with her. Remember I promised that I would do all in my power to earn your forgiveness. Just think of this as another small step in the right direction."

"Okay." She gave him a grim nod.

* * *

Dorian had finally risen from the dead, feeling sore and woozy. He wished he had stayed in bed given the tense atmosphere around the dinner table. Even Josie and Lizzie were somewhat subdued, as the four supernatural adults exchanged looks. That Stefan was now a witch had blown his mind for about 30 seconds before he realised that this was probably just another Mystic Falls thing. Maybe if he hung around long enough, he would turn an Animagus or something.

Damon glowered at Bonnie, clearly pissed, but holding back, for whose benefit Dorian wasn't entirely sure. Caroline's look of concern flitted from Bonnie to Stefan and back to Bonnie again, before she randomly chastised the children for not using their cutlery properly. Stefan was anxious, but dreamy. He kept glancing at his brother before turning to his wife and giving her a distracted smile. Bonnie sat eerily still, staring stubbornly ahead, her eating movements small and precise. You could cut the tension with a knife.

"This is excellent lasagne." Dorian tried desperately to ease the situation. It was true, he didn't think he could bear any more salty soup.

"Thanks." Stefan replied.

They lapsed into silence again, forks and knives scrapping against plates. Dorian finished and felt a wave of exhaustion flood over him. He went to stand and nearly toppled over. Caroline was the one there quickest to catch him. He looked up gratefully. "You can't go back to the Armory tonight. Please stay here." She said.

"You're right. I think I'll go lie down." As he stumbled back up the stairs, he missed the triumphant look that Caroline gave Stefan.

* * *

Caroline paced back and forth in their bedroom, grimly taking in what Stefan had to say about helping Bonnie. She hated it that her husband and best friend were being put in danger, again. She felt that Bonnie was hiding something, but she couldn't put her finger on way, maybe it had something to do with Damon? The looks they had exchanged, his open possessiveness… She wasn't sure.

"So, what's the plan?"

"Bonnie's going to teach me a few defensive type spells and how to break her connection if it gets too serious."

"But how will you know? It all sounds a little too woolly for my liking."

"Changes in auras, magical vibrations, winds picking up or changing direction. There are signs, Bonnie is going to explain to me how it works."

"Okay, but why though? You killed Enzo, she hates you and frankly, after the way Alaric treated her during the Faux-Jo necromancy saga, I don't get why she would help him. It makes no sense."

"Well, this could be speculation, but I think there's more to this Armory-Enzo association than meets the eye."

"Yeah, I'm still not over him feeding her those anti-magic pills." Caroline looked thoughtful.

Stefan wrapped his arms around her, pressing his forehead to hers. He watched her lashes fluttering as he breathed her in. "I'm sorry, Caroline. This isn't what you signed up for."

"I understand." She replied, looking into his eyes. "We'll just have to find a way to keep you and Bonnie safe." Her fingers moved lightly through the blunt hairs on the nape of his neck, causing him to shiver. "Now, enough doom and gloom. I vote to continue what we started in the kitchen.

"That is an excellent idea." He growled, pressing his lips to hers in a fierce kiss.

* * *

Damon was taking a soak in his tub, trying to get the thought of Bonnie's ridiculous death wish out of his mind. He considered grabbing her and shoving his blood down her damn throat, but he knew she would never forgive him, she wasn't Elena after all. Irritated, he grabbed a loofah and started scrubbing himself roughly down.

"Jeez, Damon. Don't go crazy." Bonnie was stood in the doorway, arms folded. She wore a cute black camisole and a pair of flannel pyjama pants which Stefan had once bought for him and he had never worn. They definitely looked better on her. She walked over to the bath, took the sponge from his hands and proceeded to gently go over his back. He felt calmer, even before she gently moved her hands to his shoulders, undoing the knots of tension, one at a time. She continued in silence for a while until he was putty in her hands. Only then did she speak again. "I do have an ulterior motive, you know."

"Do you?" He waggled her eyebrows at her suggestively, imagining pushing the hair that curled tantalisingly over her shoulders, out of the way and put his lips to her neck and...

"No, not that you perv." She had to look away so he wouldn't see how close she was to giving in. This was more important than a quick roll in the hay. "I wanted you to sit and listen, really listen, to me."

"This spell is dangerous." He looked up at her with clear eyes. "Because once you've cast it, they can locate you in the same way as you can locate them. It links you, doesn't it?"

"Someone has been paying attention to his witch lore. Yes, you're right. I'm going to need time to prepare for this, to get Stefan up to speed and I don't need you being possessive, jealous or downright weird."

He rolled his eyes. "Okay, kill yourself, see if I care." He tried to pull off an indifferent shrug. "What I don't get is why? Alaric hasn't exactly been your number 1 fan in the past. I mean my brother had to threaten him to get him to help with the Phoenix Stone vamp takedown plan. I guess he means something to the munchkins and maybe Carebear, but he's not worth even 10% of a Bonnie Bennett." He pushed a hand through his hair, wanting to leap out of the bath and wrap his arms around her, to reassure her that someone loved her and was there for her. But that would be inappropriate and she knew that which probably why she had orchestrated it that way to keep him at arms' length. Fuck that. "Can you grab me the grey towel?" She handed it to him and stared, testing him to see what he did next. "You mind turning around?" He asked awkwardly. Fortunately, she did as he asked, not without a quick smirk.

At vampire speed, he stepped out of the bath, dried himself off and wrapped the towel around his waist hoping to conceal his growing erection. He came to stand behind Bonnie, wrapping his arms around her waist, pulling his bare chest against her back. He dropped his chin onto her shoulder, whispering in her ear "Don't do this, Bon, please."

She hesitated for a second, then twisted around in his arms, burying her face in his chest. She murmured something, he didn't catch even with his enhanced hearing.

Gently pulling her away, just enough look into her glassy eyes, he stroked her cheek. "Tell me, Bonnie." He almost breathed it, begging her to let him in.

"There's a connection, Damon, I can feel it. The Bennett line are wrapped up in the Armory some way and…" She looked away, but he caught her attention again. "I have realised that maybe I didn't know Enzo quite as well as I thought. I need to find closure so I can move on with my life."

"I get that Bonnie, I do, but you need to be careful." He pulled her in tightly again, hoping that his sincerity would somehow transfer to her through the touch of their bare skin.

"I will." She hesitated. "Can I stay here tonight? With you? No funny business, I just don't want to be alone.

He nodded. Knowing how much iron-will it would take not to press her into the bed and kiss her until she screamed his name, he picked her up bridal style and tucked her up in his bed, before excusing himself to 'sort himself out'. Never had his open plan room been so awkward. When he did slip into bed, clad only in a pair of boxer briefs, Bonnie was already sparked out, gentle snores emanating from her perfect lips. It was going to be a long night, just as well he didn't need sleep.

* * *

 **AN: This chapter had the salt spilling out of me – I never much liked Alaric or Enzo. It feels like a bit of a mess, but the aim is to show that everyone is worried about Bon and that she is supported and loved. Hope this comes through a bit. Thank you so much for all your reviews – I love reading them, the one that described Alaric as an "odious goat" had me in stitches. Keep 'em coming!**


	12. A family affair

Augustus St John was not a happy warlock. He had assumed that being a do-gooding Bennett witch, Bonnie would have rushed to Alaric's aid. Only apparently, this asshole wasn't exactly the lure, he had hoped he might be. His minions reported that her spell was still standing between him and the birth right he so desperately wanted to claim. With it, he could become invincible, immortal and… His thoughts turned back to the most pressing matter. Which of his supernatural goons should he send tonight to break in?

* * *

At 6.30am, Caroline's internal alarm clock went off, rousing her from her slumber. As always, she found herself spooned by Stefan, his arms locked, possessively, around her waist. She went through a quick mental checklist of her day. Aside from all things twin-related, the only other notable item was 'get Bonnie alone and quiz her on what went down on her road trip'. That and Stefan, he was pretty much permanently on her 'to do' list.

Knowing she had a good hour until the twins were awake, Damon was lazy as fuck and Bonnie loved her early morning runs, she decided to wake her husband up. Only he was one step ahead of her and pressed a kiss to her shoulder, murmuring a sleepy "Mornin'".

Caroline flipped over to face him. Their kiss started lazily and gently, but it deepened and soon Stefan was flat on his back, one hand threading through her hair, the other cupping her butt. All of a sudden, he sprung out of bed and started rifling through his drawers, pulling out a carefully bound bunch of dried herbs.

"Are we going to smoke that?" She smiled as he produced a lighter. "You witches really are on the stoner squad."

He set the herbs on a saucer, lighting them like a wick. Satisfied, he gave her a huge grin.

His silence irked her. "What have you done?" She demanded.

"A silencing spell because my wife" He emphasised that last word "gets a little loud at times."

"Pfft, everyone's on the other side of the house."

"Yes, but I plan to have you screaming obscenities that should never grace the ears of my precious step daughters." He mock wrung his hands at her. "Think of the children, Caroline!"

Stefan talking about their familial relationships was almost as much of a turn on as his warm roving lips and his smoking hot body, so it wasn't long before he made good his promise and Caroline let forth a torrent of filthy words as he made her see stars.

* * *

Lazing in bed in a post coital haze as Stefan took a shower, Caroline smiled to herself and considered joining him. The girlish shriek he let out, surprised her out of her reverie. In a flash, she was in the bathroom. "Are you okay?"

"Argh, bastard plumbing!"

"Well, I did tell you." Caroline replied smugly, handing him a towel as he stepped out of the shower.

"Warm me up?" He asked, playfully leaning in for a kiss and dripping freezing water on her as she batted him away. "Why is it like this?" He mused. "Damon had a bath last night."

"Well, he's having a shower right now." Caroline replied not looking up.

Stefan's eyebrows shot into his hairline. "Do you know what this means?"

"God, I don't know. He's trying to wash away the cooties?"

Stefan snickered. "Probably. Look, if my brother is having a morning shower, there's a pretty good chance he got some last night. He probably snuck out and met someone at the Grill."

"Or it was Bonnie."

"I know your need for scurrilous gossip knows no bounds, but I seriously doubt that." Now dry and wearing pants, he wrapped his arms around her and eased her onto his lap. "It's not long since Enzo... since I killed Enzo."

Caroline was almost distracted as her fingers trailed lightly up his firm, muscular arms. "Come on, this is Damon the vampire gigolo we are talking about. It wasn't six hours after you and Elena broke up, that he was..." She tailed off, hoping she hadn't stirred up any feelings of betrayal. He gave her a smile which told her he was well over the doppelganger and his brother, so she continued. "I'm sure several months is like a decade to him!" She paused. "Although I would be surprised at Bonnie..."

"Which is why I think this whole thing is hokum." His fingers threading through her hair and pushing it aside.

"Care to make this interesting?" Her breath hitched as he placed open mouth kisses along her collarbone.

"Always." He replied increasing his ministrations.

"Seriously? Not like that." He pulled away. "I bet you $10 that Bonnie and Damon slept together last night."

Stefan could barely keep the amusement from his face. "Wow, you wanna lose big, do you?"

"Not everyone can be a millionaire playboy!"

"I'm." He went back to kissing her neck. "Hardly. A. Playboy."

"You'll take the bet then?" He nodded. "Good, cos I can hear someone in the kitchen. Last one downstairs is an ex-vampire." With that, she was gone.

* * *

Bonnie had needed her run this morning to clear her head. It had helped a bit, but she couldn't shake the burning feeling of connection that she had to the Armory. She had an idea. She needed some space from the elder Salvatore so she planned to make Caroline her co-conspirator. The blond wasn't the ideal choice as she was nosey as fuck, but hopefully all the kinky witch sex she was getting from Stefan would mean she was distracted enough.

Walking into the kitchen, everyone was there including Dorian and the twins. Mostly, they were quietly eating, although Caroline and Stefan were being pretty weird. At one point, she caught Caroline trying to subtly sniff the air. This seemed to amuse the pair of them. A few moments later, Stefan slid his wallet out of his jeans and handed his wife a Hamilton. Marriage clearly made people act loopy.

Deciding that Stefan was the easiest to manipulate, she turned and addressed him. "I've got a couple of defensive spells I want to teach you this morning. They are tricky though so you'll need to practice. Damon can help you with that."

"This is going to hurt, isn't it? Surely this should be a husband/wife bdsm thing." The dark-haired vampire whined.

"Don't be a wuss, Damon. Stefan will go easy on you. Besides, I have to take Lizzie and Josie to nursery, then maybe Bonnie and I could meet up for coffee?" Wow, Caroline was making this easier than she thought it would be.

"Actually, Care. I need to go to the Armory." She watched her wince knowing just how freaked out by the place the vampire was. Fortunately, Caroline's mothering instincts were well and truly kicking in. "Maybe we could go together, grab a coffee there? And take Dorian. You need to pick up some more clothes, right?"

Every face around the table looked to some degree perturbed, but no one was prepared to argue with the fiery witch. She picked up the Bennett grimoire and dragged Stefan off into the library. There was no way either Lizzie or Josie should be overhearing what she was about to teach him.

* * *

Damon gripped his temples in pain. So, his brother wasn't quite up to Bonnie's levels of aneurysm yet, but that didn't mean it didn't hurt like hell. "Fucks sake, Stef, knock it off."

His brother grinned smugly as he flicked his fingers upwards to stop the spell. They had been at it for hours. Between blocking his attacks, magically aiming stakes at him and scrambling his mind, Stefan had put him through a whole heap of pain, maybe not enough to counteract an eternity of misery, but still, he needed a Bourbon. He pulled out a hip flask, took a long pull and then offered it up to his brother.

"I'll pass."

"Good on you, your human tolerance must be super low."

"Nah, I just don't need it any more, particularly when it's still morning." He raised a judgemental eyebrow.

Damon wanted to smack him. "It's Happy Hour somewhere in the world." He offered up a sarcastic toast before downing the rest of it. "Come on, you know you want to say something. Spit it out."

Stefan looked uncomfortable, reminding Damon of what a nonconfrontational kid his brother had been. "What's going on with Bonnie?"

"Nothing, she and I are friends."

Stefan looked sceptical. "So why did you sleep together last night? What? You might have circumvented Caroline's nose, but Bonnie certainly didn't. She's not in a good place right now."

Damon growled. "How would you know what Bonnie does and doesn't need?"

"I don't, but, tread carefully, Damon." Stefan's eyes were troubled. "Maybe I don't want to see you get hurt."

Damon's smirk flickered for a second, as his brother's sincerity registered. "Maybe you should ease up on the aneurysms then." He quipped, but his voice softened. "I'll be okay." He hesitated. For so long his love life had consisted of first Katherine, then Elena, two subjects strictly off limits as far as his brother was concerned. He actually wanted to talk about Bonnie and finally after nearly 150 years of holding back, talking about a girl he liked with his brother felt right. "I kissed her. That's all, nothing more than that."

Stefan smiled. "Aww. That's sweet."

"Not really, it was at a toga party during a game of spin the bottle."

His brother shook his head, seemingly bewildered by Damon's antics. "Were you high?"

"No, but let's just say we may have been a little too friendly with Senor Cuervo."

His brother looked him up and down in the appraising way that Damon had for years dismissed as judgement and now realised was just Stefan mulling things over. Not for the first time he wished that he hadn't wasted two lifetimes hating him. "You've liked Bonnie for a while, haven't you?"

"That little bro is a long story. One, I'm not prepared to get into without a little more of this." He waved his hip flask. "We should head back to the house. Will you join me?"

A goofy smile spread across Stefan's face as he took out his phone. "Okay, it is just noon. Maybe I'll have a lite beer." He subconsciously rubbed his abs.

Damon was highly amused that his brother was concerned about getting a beer belly. "Ooh tough guy!" He replied, putting his brother into a playful headlock as a subtle reminder of who was still the oldest and strongest.

* * *

Caroline was aggrieved. Between the car journey and Dorian's need to follow Bonnie round like a lost sheep, she still hadn't managed to get her friend alone. She hated being in the Armory. After Dorian's accident, she felt unnerved. The number of creatures trying to break in hadn't decreased according to the last few days CCTV. Fortunately, none of them had been siphoners and Bonnie's spell had held, although it really was only a matter of time. She was roused from her thoughts by bickering voices.

"No. I'm sorry, I'm not going back there."

"You don't have to. I just need to know how to get in."

"I don't think you should. It's dangerous and frankly I'm a little scared what Damon might do to me if he found out I showed you."

Bonnie was about to reply when Caroline burst into the room. The guilty look on the witch's face told her everything. "The Vault? We said no one would go in there. You promised!"

"Caroline, do you realise just how juvenile that sounds? I think there's something I need in there. Look." She waved another dusty old bit of paper in her face.

"I don't like this." Caroline took her friend's hand. "But I know I can't stop you, so let me join you."

Bonnie didn't say anything, just squeezed her friend's hand in assent.

Caroline was blown away by the sheer volume and opulence of the Amory's collection. "What is all this?"

"Magical artefacts, powerful ones. Too dangerous to be kept in a collection like this. What was Alaric thinking? Why didn't he tell us about this?"

Caroline shrugged. "Or Enzo? What can I say Bon, I don't think either of them are massively trustworthy."

Bonnie ignored her, choosing instead to cast her eyes over the haul, searching out the item she had come for. Picking up a small innocuous looking wooden box, she flicked the catch exposing the contents: a blue stone, veined with white and gold that would fit snuggly into the palm of her hand.

"Is that it?" Caroline didn't look impressed and surrounded by gold, silver and twinkling precious stones, who could blame her?

"It's a lapis lazuli." Bonnie looked up. "The Bennett Lapis Stone. I read about it in my Grams' grimoire; I thought it was a legend, long gone. This heirloom, this stone is part of the reason you and Damon can walk in the sun." Caroline looked chastened. "Come on, let's get out of here."

It was getting dark as Bonnie and Caroline packed the car to leave. They had decided to take some of the more salient items with them, fearing that at some point the magical defences of the Armory would crumble. Dorian was also packing his stuff keen to get the hell out of there despite his previous bluster. Caroline got it, remembering just how freaked out Matt had been by the supernatural reality all those years ago. As Dorian was finally out of ear shot, she decided to quiz Bonnie about the elder Salvatore. "So, how was the road trip?"

"It was good." Bonnie replied absentmindedly.

Caroline pursed her lips, not deterred. "Only good? You seemed kind of happy, given how shit the news was."

Bonnie screwed her face up. "Shoot. We need to decide what to do with Virginia's ashes."

"Seriously?" Caroline's impatience flared. "Nothing to report about you and a certain blue-eyed vampire?" The witch blinked, but remained silent. "Come on, Bon. I could smell him on you this morning." She clicked her tongue. "What are you doing?"

"I get it, Caroline, you hate Damon. I mean I hate Stefan so we are kind of even." Bonnie replied, bitterly.

"No." The blonde looked at her friend. "I hate what Damon did, I hate that he never apologised for it. I also hate what Stefan did to you. There's a difference."

As much as Bonnie wanted to argue the hell over Caroline's ridiculous statement, she got it; the amount of handwaving they had all done over the years, well... Frankly, she really needed someone to talk to, even if they weren't exactly neutral. "I kissed him, okay. Happy now!"

A shocked smile spread across her face. "Yes, yes I am."

"What?"

"He's been looking at you with puppy dog eyes for months and puppy dog Damon is so much more bearable than obnoxious asshole Damon." She looked serious for a second. "I don't know what it is you do, but you make him better. Not that it's your job or anything. In fact, I don't think he even realises most of the time, he just is, you know… better." Caroline nudged her friend. "And you, well he lightens you up."

"You saying I'm boring?"

"No, but you do take the weight of the world on your shoulders and Damon seems to the only one who you let lessen the burden."

"I..." Caroline didn't allow her to finish as she grabbed her friend and pulled her down by the side of the car. Three figures were approaching in the shadows. She wished they had left earlier, this place was flaming creepy.

At that moment, Dorian choose to make a noisy exit through the front door. In a flash, the figures were upon him, two of them shoved him aside and forced their way in, Bonnie's spell when the door was open. Caroline tackled the third one, slower than the others and obviously a werewolf from his smell. He was strong, the full moon only a couple of days away. He threw her to the floor, pulling a stake from his jacket, obviously prepared. Fortunately, Caroline was quicker and another scuffle ensued as each tried to gain the upper hand. Terrified for her life, she dug a little deeper, gaining the upper hand just long enough to plunge her hand into his chest and remove his heart.

Caroline didn't have time to pause knowing two other supernatural beings were inside the Armory and Bonnie was in danger. A cursory glance over Dorian told her, he was okay, just a little winded. She gave him the international signal for 'stay down' which he gratefully did. Entering the building, she saw a frazzled looking Bonnie brain frying both vampires, only one was more immune to the other and kept physically attacking the petite witch knocking her off her game. He got close enough to grab her, but that didn't stop her desperately kicking and trying to fight him off. Not for the first time, Caroline was seriously impressed by Bonnie's strength. Fortunately, the witch caught the blond vampire's eye and managed to communicate a plan. Caroline zipped up behind the weaker of the two and snapped his neck. This allowed Bonnie to fully concentrate on downing the final creature. Releasing her, he gripped his head; the witch grabbed a broken table leg and shoved it through his heart. As the grey veins spread across his face, Bonnie sank to the floor, Caroline rushing to her side.

* * *

Damon was pacing the floor of the library. It was late and the girls weren't back. Stefan was softly reading 'The Very Hungary Caterpillar' to Josie and Lizzie in front of the roaring fire. He wanted to scoff at his brother for being pathetic and whipped, but after an afternoon of pouring his heart out and Stefan listening patiently, he would have felt like a total ass. He knew his brother was worried too, but he was doing his standard 'sublimate and ignore' routine.

He heard an SUV pull up outside and the door burst open. He was disappointed to see an anxious, stressed-looking Caroline, but the twins were ecstatic, squealing and running towards their mom who enveloped them in a huge hug.

Damon's attention went to his brother who carefully put the book down on the table and folded the blankie they had been snuggled under, all the time watching his three of girls, a gentle, relieved smile on his face. After a few moments, he moved closer to them, still leaving a careful space, but catching Caroline's eye. His brother and sister-in-law exchanged a serious of looks, silently communicating things only they understood. Finally, he walked over and lightly squeezed her shoulder for the briefest time before heading out to the car. The whole exchange had taken seconds, but Damon was struck by how much he wanted someone to understand him, the way Caroline understood Stefan and vice versa.

Outside, his brother and Bonnie were silently examining something in the trunk of the car. They both looked up as he approached, but his brother discretely turned away as Bonnie threw herself into his arms. He lifted her off the floor and she wrapped her legs around his waist. He held her close, breathing her in, just glad she seemed okay. "What happened?"

"I have so much to tell you, but I could use a drink first."

"Now you're talking my language." He grinned.

* * *

Stefan walked into their bedroom, two steaming mugs of tea in his hands. Caroline accepted one gratefully. "How's the prisoner doing?" She asked.

"Well, his neck's going be sore tomorrow, thanks to you, but it won't be a patch on the vervain hangover he'll have!" He slipped into bed beside her. "Fighting werewolves though, Caroline." He admonished, picking up her hand and kissing it to show he was half joking.

"I'm a badass." She flipped her hair. "What can I say? It's not just you and Bonnie who can be heroes, you know. Seriously though, this is big, Stefan. It's gone beyond Alaric, beyond the Armory. I feel like we are sitting on a powder keg. What do we do now?" She peeked up at him.

"We sleep."

"That's not very heroic, is it?"

"Well, I'm tired from frying Damon's brain all day and listening to his Bonnie woes." His lips ghosted over hers. "Besides, I need to be up in four hours for vampire guarding duty." He settled down on his back, pulling her in so her head rested on his chest, his heart beat slowing as he drifted off.

* * *

Bonnie had insisted on taking first watch, but Damon had managed to persuade her that first she needed a bath and some vampire blood. She agreed only as she had a nasty cut on her cheek and her vanity refused such an ugly scar. Of course, she was exhausted so Damon had carried her to his bed advising her to rest and he would wake her when it was time.

Only he didn't, because she needed her rest.

As did Stefan who he had also promised to wake in four hours' time and didn't.

In fact, he stayed up all night because even though Caroline didn't technically need to sleep either, he knew just how much she loved curling up in bed with his brother and just how much she had missed him when he was gone.

Watching over the vampire captive as he swigged Bourbon and reread 'The Great Gatsby', Damon felt a creeping sensation through his chest. Warm and heavy, it seeped into his bones, making him feel... he could not quite express it... content, complete, more human than he had felt in a very, very long time.

* * *

 **AN: Argh this chapter! I'm trying to write a softer side of Damon and he feels OOC, gah! I also feel like the action side has got a bit stalled because all I want to do is write fluffy stuff between Steroline and Bamon (and then all the friend'ships' as well). I have also realised I just can't write smut – I tried and it's too uncomfortable. Sorry, it's a bit lame.**


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